Queens Pols Attempt To Stamp Out Hate Group

Another member of the National Alliance, a national Neo-Nazi, anti-semitic, anti-immigrant hate group based out of West Virginia has been arrested in Queens for criminal weapons possession and criminal sale of a weapon.
The most recent arrest came last week as police raided the Elmhurst home of Steve McFadden. Cops discovered the home was used to store thousands of rounds of ammunition, piles of Alliance literature, and dozens of AK-47 assault rifles, the firearms which have been banned in New York State for some time.
With a local branch in the north Bronx, the Alliance has promoted itself recently through the use of hate stickers and leaflets, many of which have been distributed throughout parts of Queens and Brooklyn.
The Anti-Defamation League describes the Alliance as "the single most dangerous organized hate group in the U.S." In the past several years, dozens of violent crimes, such as murders, bombings and robberies have been traced to the group or inspired by their propaganda.
In April, a College Point resident was arrested after holding bomb-making materials, and an array of illegal weapons including an AK-47. The groups most recent offense was distributing inflammatory leaflets underneath windshield wipers in College Point.
But now, Queens is fighting back. Civic leader and City council candidate Tony Avella has teamed up with State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky and Congressman Joseph Crowley in battle against this hate group. The three local politicians have taken steps to stop the Alliances guerrilla marketing campaign.
This spring, the trio set up an anti-hate program rewarding Queens residents for identifying those who distribute the Alliances flyers and stickers. "Im pleased with the attention the police have given to this situation," Avella said. On their leaflets, the group, which boasts a membership of 1,500, clearly states their intolerance for immigrants, non-whites and homosexuals. They also describe themselves as patriots. "Nothing could be further from the truth," Avella asserted. "They are the opposite of what this country stands for."
Avella has also started an e-mail and letter writing campaign to Visa and MasterCard, whose cards are used to purchase hate-filled material from the groups web site. One deadly item for sale is "The Turner Diaries," a novel written by William Pierce, founder of the Alliance. It has been described as a textbook in terrorism and a blueprint to overthrowing the government. Avella has encouraged people to petition the credit card giants to drop the Alliance as a client.
"They are pigs who feed from the same trough of bigotry and hatred," stated Stavisky. The senators first experience with the Alliance was in the summer of 1993 when she encountered one of their bright orange-colored stickers on a lamppost in Whitestone. At the time, the group had its own 800-number on the sticker. After extensive research on the group and frequent calls to the Alliance, Stavisky and her husband (late State Senator Leonard Stavisky) successfully got rid of their toll-free number.
Soon after the hotlines shutdown, the hate groups overall presence in the city subsided for several years. That was until 1998, around the same time of the bombing of a federal government building in Oklahoma City by homegrown terrorist Timothy McVeigh. After his arrest, a search of McVeighs dwelling revealed he was an avid reader of hate and anti-government literature written by Pierce.
"Diversity is what makes New York and Queens County so special," said Crowley. "Groups like the National Alliance have one goal: to divide our community."