NCJ Number
203162
Journal
Intelligence Report Issue: 109 Dated: Spring 2003 Pages: 24-29
Editor(s)
Mark Potok
Date Published
2003
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the life of the Neo-Nazi leader, Matt Hale, the crises of the World Church of the Creator (WCOTC) due to Hale’s imprisonment, the illegal use of the WCOTC name and followers splitting from the WCOTC.
Abstract
Matt Hale began his career as a professional racist at the age of 12. In 1990, he formed the American White Supremacist Party and then moved to the National Association for the Advancement of White People. In 1995, he took over the Church of the Creator, and in 1996 he was elected as the Church’s leader which he renamed the World Church of the Creator (WCOTC). By 2000, the WCOTC was a Neo-Nazi group with the largest number of chapters in America. Since this time the WCOTC, as well as Hale himself, have been in turmoil. In 2001, the WCOTC suffered through two internal splits and defections and lost a civil suit for failing to register as a charity and ordered to disclose its finances. Hale also lost the right to use WCOTC’s name in a copyright lawsuit. In 2003, Hale was arrested in the Federal courthouse in Chicago, IL, and charged with obstruction of justice and solicitation to murder a Federal judge, U.S. District Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow. Judge Lefkow had presided in the copyright trial, ruling against Hale and issuing an injunction forbidding WCOTC from using the term Church of the Creator. Hale became enraged at her ruling. Hale has been denied bond and remains in custody. Today, there are signs of severe strains on the group that has lost its leader. Its survival remains questionable.