Aryan Freedom Network

Last updated

Aryan Freedom Network
FounderDalton Henry Stout
Foundation2018
Country United States
MotivesEstablishment of a white ethnostate through a race war
Headquarters Texas
Ideology
Size1,000-1,500 [1]
Allies
Website http://white-power.org

The Aryan Freedom Network (AFN) is an American neo-Nazi group based in Texas with chapters in 34 U.S. states. AFN maintains its activities by holding private events, participating in public demonstrations, and distributing flyers. The group is led by Tonia Sue Berry, Dalton Henry Stout, and his father, George Bois Stout, an arms dealer based in De Kalb. [3] [2] According to the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism (COE) and Dallas News , AFN has significantly contributed to Texas leading the nation in white supremacist propaganda distribution. [4] [5] [6] [7]

Contents

History

AFN is the latest white supremacist group established by Dalton Stout in recent years. Before 2018, Stout led a Klan group. In April 2018, he claimed to have joined the white supremacist League of the South (LS), appearing alongside LS founder Michael Hill at a Knights Party event in Arkansas. He also attempted to establish and promote a skinhead group prior to forming AFN. [8] AFN has welcomed "pro-White motorcycle clubs" and former members of the National Justice Party into its ranks. The group includes a youth wing called "Aryan Youth" and a women's group known as the "Valkyrie Division". [7]

In August of 2025, Henry Stout, the founder of Aryan Freedom Network, said "Trump awakened a lot of people to the issues we’ve been raising for years. He’s the best thing that’s happened to us.” [1]

Ideology

According to The Forward , AFN describes itself as engaging in a "racial holy war based on the ideas of White Racial Supremacy and establishing an Aryan Homeland for our People," and is "on the hunt" for communists in Texas. The group frequently shares videos showing dozens of members undergoing armed training and shooting mannequins painted with Stars of David. [9] [2] Membership requires individuals to be "100% of White European ancestry, including: Nordic, Slavic, Mediterranean, Celtic, or Germanic background.” [10]

Actions

AFN holds an annual "White Unity Conference" and has organized multiple anti-LGBT "anti-grooming demonstrations." In 2022, the group organized at least 12 private gatherings across several states, including Texas, South Carolina, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Idaho, and Nebraska. In January 2023, AFN announced "Aryan Fest," a white supremacist music festival. During one anti-LGBT event, armed AFN members menaced Grand Prairie drag show attendees. [2] [5] [11]

In 2022, AFN also organized an event in Hayden, Idaho, at the former headquarters of Aryan Nations. [12] Both AFN and Aryan Nations share an ideological affinity for the antisemitic Christian Identity movement. [13]

In 2023, AFN held an event and circulated flyers in Lexington, Kentucky. The flyers read: “You know who else was condemned for ‘hate speech?’ Jesus Christ.” [14]

Leadership

AFN is led by Dalton Henry Stout (also known as "Brother Henry"), Tonia Sue Berry (aka Daisy Barr), and Stout's father, George Bois Stout, an arms dealer based in De Kalb. [3] [2] [15] According to the Anti-Defamation League, Berry and Dalton Stout married in 2020 but appear to have divorced in April 2022. However, according to Reuters, this was a legal move to protect assets in civil rights lawsuits, effectively a divorce in name only. [1] [8] According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Stout's family leads De Kalb's Ku Klux Klan chapter. Berry's father was also an Imperial Wizard of the KKK, and the couple has been described as "racist royalty". [15] [1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "American Nazis: The Aryan Freedom Network is riding high in Trump era". Reuters . August 9, 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Aryan Freedom Network (AFN)". Anti-Defamation League . June 4, 2023.
  3. 1 2 Warszawski, Marek (June 4, 2023). "Attention, neo-Nazi white supremacists: You and your beliefs are not welcome in Fresno". Fresno Bee .
  4. Dowd, Trone (June 4, 2023). "Someone Keeps Papering This Texas Neighborhood in Racist Flyers". Vice News .
  5. 1 2 Williams, Michael (June 4, 2023). "Texas leads in white supremacist propaganda distribution, Anti-Defamation League reports". Dallas News .
  6. "Hate in the Lone Star State: Extremism & Antisemitism in Texas". www.adl.org. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  7. 1 2 "Aryan Freedom Network". Institute for Strategic Dialogue . August 9, 2025.
  8. 1 2 "Aryan Freedom Network (AFN)". www.adl.org. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  9. Kovac, Adam (June 4, 2023). "Texas neo-Nazi group ramps up talk of guns, violence on social media". Forward .
  10. Taub, David (June 4, 2023). "Aryan Group Says It's Coming to Fresno. Police Are Aware of 'Meet and Greet.'". GV Wire.
  11. Miller, Thaddeus (June 4, 2023). "Neo-Nazi group advertises meeting in Fresno. Police chief and sheriff say they're aware". Fresno Bee .
  12. Hill, Kip (June 4, 2023). "Neo-Nazi group adopts legacy of past in North Idaho, prompting human rights response". Yakima Herald .
  13. Kaur, Rania (June 4, 2023). "'We will never remain silent': North Idaho community braces for Aryan Freedom Network gathering". KXLY-TV.
  14. Six, Taylor (August 4, 2023). "Lexington neighborhood wakes up to white supremacy flyers; police investigating". Lexington Herald-Leader .
  15. 1 2 Kelly, Sam González (March 21, 2022). "Heights littered with racist flyers. It's not the first time this has happened in a Houston neighborhood". Houston Chronicle . Retrieved October 29, 2023.