{"id":3850,"date":"2026-05-28T11:39:49","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T11:39:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/2026\/05\/28\/us-neo-nazi-plotted-to-kill-journalist-who-reported-on-him-testimony-reveals\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T11:39:49","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T11:39:49","slug":"us-neo-nazi-plotted-to-kill-journalist-who-reported-on-him-testimony-reveals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=3850","title":{"rendered":"US neo-Nazi plotted to kill journalist who reported on him, testimony reveals"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"border-color:var(--article-border);background-color:var(--article-inner-background)\" class=\"dcr-wqti5a\">\n<div class=\"dcr-2zxs1v\">\n<div style=\"--grid-area:media\" data-gu-name=\"media\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tr9ye5\">\n<figure id=\"49326482-669a-4cee-930b-9260a4d4715f\" class=\"dcr-142siv7\">\n<div id=\"img-1\" class=\"dcr-1t8m8f2\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"an FBI seal\" src=\"https:\/\/i.guim.co.uk\/img\/media\/2af819df2d6df42aadac5de2924389263b100407\/499_0_5001_4000\/master\/5001.jpg?width=465&amp;dpr=1&amp;s=none&amp;crop=none\" width=\"465\" height=\"371.9256148770246\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"dcr-evn1e9\"><span class=\"dcr-v822l1\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-gup2gr\">\n<div class=\"dcr-fntg6k\"><label for=\"the-checkbox\" class=\"dcr-1xgwz8b\"><\/label> <\/p>\n<div id=\"the-caption\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1os51wo\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">The exchange with the undercover officer was revealed by the FBI\u2019s Chris Hluzek, a criminal investigator with the Huntsville police department.<\/span> Photograph: Jenny Kane\/AP<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/span><a href=\"#img-1\" data-ignore=\"global-link-styling\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-13fd1ms\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><button data-element-id=\"49326482-669a-4cee-930b-9260a4d4715f\" type=\"button\" class=\"open-lightbox dcr-4tmywn\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><span class=\"dcr-194i6pr\">View image in fullscreen<\/span><\/button><\/a><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"dcr-n4pnam\"><figcaption data-spacefinder-role=\"inline\" class=\"dcr-1hdkqum\"><span class=\"dcr-hvsf4t\"><\/span><span class=\"dcr-1qvd3m6\">The exchange with the undercover officer was revealed by the FBI\u2019s Chris Hluzek, a criminal investigator with the Huntsville police department.<\/span> Photograph: Jenny Kane\/AP<\/figcaption><\/span><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:border\" data-gu-name=\"border\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:headline\" data-gu-name=\"headline\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-14emo0l\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1aqe7zu\">\n<h1 class=\"dcr-1k1a1x\">US neo-Nazi plotted to kill journalist who reported on him, testimony reveals<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:standfirst\" data-gu-name=\"standfirst\" class=\"dcr-1fnjjtg\">\n<div class=\"dcr-15in7js\">\n<p>Aiden Daniel Cuevas allegedly told undercover officer reporter \u2018needed to be taken off the board\u2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:body\" data-gu-name=\"body\" class=\"dcr-kn9unn\">\n<div class=\"dcr-1a4fred\">\n<div id=\"maincontent\" class=\"dcr-ydnaza\">\n<div class=\"article-body-commercial-selector article-body-viewer-selector dcr-1c9t5u6\">\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">An <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/alabama\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">Alabama<\/a> neo-Nazi accused of trying to start a paramilitary unit to take out \u201chigh value targets\u201d aimed to kill a journalist who once reported on him, according to law enforcement testimony obtained by the Guardian.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Aiden Daniel Cuevas allegedly used \u201ccoded talk\u201d to tell an undercover officer in November 2024 that the journalist was a \u201cpawn\u201d that \u201cneeded to be taken off the board\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The alleged exchange with the undercover officer was revealed by Chris Hluzek, a criminal investigator with the Huntsville police department assigned to an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/fbi\" data-link-name=\"in body link\" data-component=\"auto-linked-tag\">FBI<\/a> joint terrorism taskforce, during his testimony at a January detention hearing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">He added that, when the undercover officer pressed Cuevas about whether he simply meant he wanted to dox or harass the journalist, he is said to have replied: \u201cWhat good is harassing a pawn and not removing it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The Guardian is not naming the journalist at their request, given legitimate safety concerns.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Prosecutors asserted that, while he did not use the word \u201ckill\u201d, the meaning of Cuevas\u2019 coded language was clear.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cWhat we have here is a foiled murder plot,\u201d Jonathan Cross, an assistant US attorney for the northern district of Alabama, told the court, according to a transcript of the hearing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The subject of a year-long undercover investigation, Cuevas was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.alreporter.com\/2026\/01\/30\/north-alabama-neo-nazi-bought-firearms-with-intent-to-take-out-high-value-targets-fbi-says\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">arrested<\/a> in January after allegedly paying an undercover officer $1,500 for three fully automatic weapons and three Glock-style pistols with obliterated serial numbers. Andrew Cole Nary, an alleged co-conspirator said to have been present for the purchase, was also arrested.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Both were charged with conspiracy to traffic illegal firearms.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Researchers and journalists who track far-right movements have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.alreporter.com\/2025\/02\/25\/alabama-white-supremacists-charged-with-trespass-burglary-at-nuclear-power-plant-site\/?utm_source=fark&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_content=link&amp;ICID=ref_fark\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">identified<\/a> Cuevas as a member of the North Bama Brigade, a white supremacist group spun out of the 2119 Crew, a youth-oriented affiliate of the neo-Nazi <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/active-clubs-are-white-supremacys-new-dangerous-frontier-262786\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">active club<\/a> movement. He was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.alreporter.com\/2025\/02\/25\/alabama-white-supremacists-charged-with-trespass-burglary-at-nuclear-power-plant-site\/?utm_source=fark&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_content=link&amp;ICID=ref_fark\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">charged<\/a> with felony trespassing and burglary of an industrial complex that includes a nuclear power plant alongside other members of the spin-off group last year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Hluzek testified Cuevas founded the North Bama Brigade in 2023 and that Nary was also a member. He said Cuevas told the undercover officer, of his plans for the spin-off group, that \u201che wanted to take over North Alabama\u201d and \u201cestablish different leaders in different communities\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">And, according to a federal criminal complaint, he also spoke to the undercover officer in June 2025 about obtaining paramilitary urban assault training for himself and others, including advanced instruction in taking out \u201chigh value targets\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The journalist who Cuevas earlier said \u201cneeded to be taken off the board\u201d had written about him and other young males involved in US white supremacist groups.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The case highlights concerns in the US and abroad over increasing efforts by far-right extremists to intimidate, and in some cases attack or endanger, members of the press who seek to cover them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cThey view journalists as enemies of the people, as part of the other,\u201d said Jon Lewis, a researcher at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University. \u201cThe years-long campaign by the right to demonize and delegitimize the media inevitably has real world consequences. Right wing extremists also feel increasingly emboldened seeing allies in the [US] administration openly echo their extremist rhetoric.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Last year, a joint <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecpmf.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Lokaljournalismus-unter-Druck-Studie-2025.pdf\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">study<\/a> by the German Newspaper Publishers and Digital Publishers Association and the European Centre for Press and Media Freedom found that two-thirds of journalists who covered rightwing extremism in the states of Saxony and Thuringia said they have been subject to direct threats, ranging from physical attacks to the attempted, life-threatening <a href=\"https:\/\/hundertprozent.bghw.de\/ein-gefuehl-fuer-den-extremfall\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">sabotage<\/a> of one reporter\u2019s car.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">In March, members of a Montr\u00e9al-area neo-Nazi active club who the Canadian journalist, Rachel Gilmore, <a href=\"https:\/\/thetyee.ca\/Opinion\/2026\/03\/12\/Fallout-Reporting-White-Nationalism-Canada\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">identified<\/a>, showed up at a music venue where her boyfriend was performing to confront her about her reporting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">In the US, notorious Tennessee neo-Nazi leader, Sean Kauffmann, has in recent years organized efforts to intimidate journalists at the Southern Poverty Law Center publication Hatewatch by encouraging fellow extremists to send them antisemitic and racist slurs, videos of race-motivated mass murders and images of lynchings of Black men, the outlet <a href=\"https:\/\/www.splcenter.org\/resources\/hatewatch\/were-not-scared-these-parasites-violent-white-nationalist-leader-menacing-tennessee\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">reported<\/a>. The Tennessee Active Club, which he leads, also circulated the home addresses of multiple journalists.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Another far-right Telegram channel, which the SPLC reported was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.splcenter.org\/resources\/hatewatch\/we-will-fight-soldier-waging-war-against-america-fort-liberty\/\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">run<\/a> by a member of the US white supremacist group Patriot Front, targeted at least nine journalists by releasing information including their home addresses, phone numbers and photographs of them, leading to stalking and harassment in some cases.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">One of those journalists, NewsChannel 5 Nashville\u2019s Phil Williams, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newschannel5.com\/news\/newschannel-5-investigates\/franklin-politics\/a-white-supremacist-warned-me-to-comply-with-his-demands-or-else-now-hes-in-federal-custody\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">reported<\/a> that Kai Liam Nix, the man behind the channel, sent him threats demanding the network air a white supremacist video.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cObviously, what these acts are trying to do is intimidate you out of doing your job,\u201d said Lilliana Mason, a political scientist at Johns Hopkins University who <a href=\"https:\/\/press.uchicago.edu\/ucp\/books\/book\/chicago\/R\/bo163195227.html\" data-link-name=\"in body link\">studies<\/a> political violence and social and political polarization in the US.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">She noted that, beyond ideology, extremist groups, like cults, can be \u201cattractive to people who are looking for more certainty, and who feel uncertain in their own life\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">\u201cBy virtue of being extreme, they create very clear boundaries of who\u2019s in and who\u2019s out, and so there\u2019s a feeling of camaraderie, a feeling of belonging,\u201d Mason added. \u201cIf a group like this provides such a crucial psychological benefit for you, you will do anything to protect that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">While stressing that political violence remains extremely rare, she noted that spikes in incidents can be concerning because \u201cthere is a sort of tipping point. Once enough people are engaging in violence, then more and more people begin to believe it\u2019s OK and more people are willing to use it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Cuevas, meanwhile, allegedly identified two other \u201cpawns\u201d he wanted \u201ctaken off the board\u201d: a former North Bama Brigade associate whose relationship \u201csoured\u201d with the group and a man who the group believed was a government informant.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">The criminal complaint alleges Cuevas was more explicit about his intentions for the weapons he tried to buy when referring to the suspected informant, saying they would be used to \u201ctake [him] out\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Herman Johnson, an Alabama-based federal judge, ordered Cuevas and Nary be held in US marshals custody pending the outcome of their case, stating there is probable cause to believe they committed the alleged conspiracy to traffic guns. Online court records do not indicate whether either has entered a plea.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dcr-130mj7b\">Hluzek, Cross and defense attorneys for Cuevas and Nary did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div data-print-layout=\"hide\" class=\"dcr-qxqnsy\"><span class=\"dcr-1rq3vad\">Explore more on these topics<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-1dzx48f\">\n<ul class=\"dcr-1rrvs2w\">\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/alabama\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Alabama<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/fbi\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">FBI<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/us-news\/us-crime\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">US crime<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/media\/journalist-safety\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">Journalist safety<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"dcr-hj8byr\"><a href=\"\/tone\/news\" class=\"dcr-1gwziyt\">news<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dcr-nu129i\"><a href=\"mailto:?subject=US%20neo-Nazi%20plotted%20to%20kill%20journalist%20who%20reported%20on%20him,%20testimony%20reveals&amp;body=https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2026\/may\/28\/neo-nazi-charged-journalism-murder-plot?CMP=share_btn_url\" class=\"dcr-125qj9d\">Share<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"dcr-zhx6xs\"><a data-link-name=\"meta-syndication-article\" href=\"https:\/\/syndication.theguardian.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2026%2Fmay%2F28%2Fneo-nazi-charged-journalism-murder-plot&amp;type=article&amp;internalpagecode=us-news\/2026\/may\/28\/neo-nazi-charged-journalism-murder-plot\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" title=\"Reuse this content\" class=\"dcr-14rjinq\">Reuse this content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"--grid-area:right-column\" data-gu-name=\"right-column\" class=\"dcr-1h2hraq\">\n<div class=\"dcr-tn16h9\">\n<section class=\"dcr-1hko8ef\"><\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The exchange with the undercover officer was revealed by the FBI\u2019s Chris Hluzek, a criminal investigator with the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":3852,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3850\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}