Portsmouth Man Among 2 Charged With Posting White Nationalist Flyers

EAST PROVIDENCE, RI — A Portsmouth man and an Arizona man were arrested in East Providence after police said they caught them trying to recruit men into a white nationalist group last month.

Police said they were called to Vincent Avenue after receiving reports of several men hanging up white nationalist flyers near the Gordon School. Officers found flyers stapled to utility poles throughout the neighborhood.

Police said the flyers belonged to the NSC-131. Police said the fliers described the club as "a pro-white, street-oriented fraternity dedicated to raising authentic resistance to the enemies of our people in the New England area."

East Providence police said they caught five men walking around the neighborhood with stacks of the flyers and staple guns. Two of the men were arrested. Stephen Farrea, 32, of Portsmouth, and Austin Conti, 26, of Yuma, Arizona, were both charged with obstruction of an officer in execution of duty and violating the city's ordinance against posting signs to utility poles.

NSC stands for "Nationalist Social Club," according to the Anti-Defamation League, and 131 is the alphanumeric code for ACA, or Anti-Communist Action. There are chapters around the United States and in France, Hungary and Germany. Members of the group participated in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot in Washington, D.C.

"Originally named the New England Nationalists Club (NENC), the group was started in December 2019 by a handful of neo-Nazis in Eastern Massachusetts," the ADL says in its dossier on NSC-131.