Washington Neo-Nazi Leader Sentenced For Threats

SEATTLE — A former leader of the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division was sentenced Tuesday in Seattle for his role in a plot to threaten and intimidate journalists and advocates in several states, including Washington.

Kaleb Cole, 25, was convicted last September after a two-day trial before a federal jury in Seattle. He and three co-conspirators were arrested and charged in February 2020 after threatening flyers were mailed or delivered to addresses in Washington, Arizona and Florida.

The flyers contained swastikas and other Nazi imagery along with threatening language, including "your actions have consequences" and "we are watching." Prosecutors said the threats were designed to intimidate journalists and others who worked to expose anti-Semitism.

"Threats motivated by religious intolerance are antithetical to American values, even more so when they aim to intimidate journalists and others who are working to expose bigotry in our society," said Kristen Clarke, an assistant attorney general with the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division. "The defendant led a multi-state plot by a neo-Nazi group to threaten and intimidate journalists and advocates who were doing important work to expose anti-Semitism around the county."

The jury convicted Cole on one count of "interfering with a federally protected activity because of religion," three counts of "mailing threatening communications," and one count of conspiring to interfere with federally-protected activities.

Recipients in Washington included KING 5 journalist Chris Ingalls, who had previously visited Cole's Arlington home and produced several stories focused on Atomwaffen. Investigators said at least three residents in Seattle, Edmonds and Mercer Island received threats.

As The Seattle Times reports, Cole was raised in Everett and has family in Arlington. In 2019, the Seattle Police Department served Cole with an extreme risk protection order and seized nine weapons from his property. He was living in Texas at the time of his arrest.

On Tuesday, a federal judge sentenced Cole to 84 months in federal prison. The three others charged in the case previously pleaded guilty and were sentenced for their roles, including another Washington man, Cameron Shea, 25, of Redmond.

The investigation included members from the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force in three states and the Seattle Police Department.