“I deeply resent the way I’ve been characterized. I’m no more a white supremacist than the Dalai Lama is. I love my people just as he does.”(Kevin Alfred Strom, courtroom statement 1/14/08)
Kevin Alfred Strom was once the metaphorical backbone of the largest and most prolific hate group in America. Serving Dr. William Luther Pierce, and later taking his place as America’s Dissident Voice, Strom was considered one of the true intellectuals in the racist movement.
Revered by some and deeply criticized by others, Strom would later become the Director of National Vanguard, a splinter groups which never really got off the ground.
Considered by many to be “too effeminate,” Kevin Strom had another onus to bear. He wasn’t the homosexual that many on the extreme right suspected - he liked girls – very young girls.
For years, Kevin maintained a website with an odd collection of art mixed in with virulently racist rhetoric. At he beginning of the 21st Century, his cyber presence was rife with pictures of young females, usually scantily clad, and often belonging to parents active in the National Alliance. Many of those pictures were, reportedly, presented without parental knowledge.
Even though Strom was suspected of being “sexually twisted” by many individuals on the racist right, his radio programs and scholarly essays continued to be disseminated and praised by those who would otherwise have considered him unfit for white nationalist circles.
When Strom was arrested in January of 2008, on a series if child pornography and intimidate charges, some were shocked, some were disbelieving and still others were in complete denial.
Don Black, founder and operator of the oldest and largest white nationalist website, Stormfront, admitted that he was not surprised and that “they” had been worried that this was going to happen. Yet there were those, and still are, who refused to believe the charges. Many believed that his wife Elisha set him up even after evidence surfaced and eventually, by Kevin’s own admission, it became clear that he had, in fact, not only received and possessed child pornography, but had actually stalked a 10-year-old female.
While some charges were dropped, on January 14th, 2008, Strom pled guilty to child pornography and will be sentenced in April. Out of concern, the Judge asked Kevin if he had been coerced or, in any way, intimidated into making such an admission to which Strom replied, “They’re trying to kill me because of the press coverage,” he said. “I deeply resent the way I’ve been characterized. I’m no more a white supremacist than the Dalai Lama is. I love my people just as he does.”
For most people, living within the realm of sanity, the very idea of child pornography and pedophilia is repulsive and being legally charged with such crimes is unthinkable. Yet Strom is more concerned about the media coverage labeling him a “white supremacist,” which he is.
Additionally, we all know that in jail or prison any inmate who has committed crimes against children are not going to fare well and are much more likely to be attacked or killed. Why then the concern over being called a white supremacist? Could it be that Mr. Strom knows that not even the Aryan Brotherhood will be on his side?
For years Strom has railed against African-Americans, Jews, and other minority groups. To now be concerned about his extremely racist views seems almost ridiculous. However, being called a white supremacist doesn’t sit well with his wife either.
In an interview after the court appearance, Elisha Strom was quick to correct reporter Lisa Provence from
“The Hook”telling her that she isn’t a white supremacist either, but a white separatist who wants a white homeland.
There is very little to laugh at in this seedy and repulsive case, but watching the two racists strive to somehow ameliorate their racism is pretty damned funny. As the National Alliance has had their stated goals listed for years, to suddenly attempt to cast a more positive light on themselves in the midst of something most of the sane world has difficulty stomaching, is beyond the point of ridiculous.
Here are three of their stated objectives…
"We will do whatever is necessary to achieve this White living space and to keep it White. We will not be deterred by the difficulty or temporary unpleasantness involved, because we realize that it is absolutely necessary for our racial survival."
"The fact is that we need a strong, centralized government spanning several continents to coordinate many important tasks during the first few decades of a White world: the racial cleansing of the land, the rooting out of racially destructive institutions, and the reorganization of society on a new basis."
"The central task of a new government will be to reverse the racially devolutionary course of the last few millennia and keep it reversed: a long-term eugenics program involving at least the entire populations of Europe and America. Such a task is necessarily intrusive, and it will require large-scale organization."
While Elisha Strom apparently assisted the prosecution and testified against her husband it is unclear whether she did so willingly or to save herself from being indicted on charges, as well. There are several questions regarding her involvement.
Throughout the last year, Elisha has attempted to rid herself of the cloud that still hangs over her head as far as her fellow racists are concerned. She has claimed that her relationship with Kevin has been a stormy one, especially since she caught him masturbating in front of the computer while viewing photos of the heads of the neo-Nazi singing duo of Prussian Blue, now 15, pasted on the naked bodies of younger female children.
During that time, Elisha claimed that she had made Kevin sign a contract to seek help for his problem and to continue in counseling until such time that he was “cured” from his pedophilia. She placed that notarized contract online as proof that she had taken some sort of action.
Later, an audio tape of Kevin speaking with his counselor surfaced. On the tape, he admitted to being attracted to children and to the fact that Elisha had caught him masturbating to images of “shockingly young girls.” Also on the tape, he chronicled how Elisha had set up what sounded to be an elaborate set of cameras in the house in order to catch him. This revelation only fed the hysteria of those who believed Elisha had been complicit in setting him up.
Elisha also spoke of an incident where he had walked the young child that he had been stalking to the car during a rain shower while leaving his own family behind without the benefit of an umbrella. Additionally, she recalled an incident where she, Kevin, and Prussian Blue were present at a David Duke event. She claimed that Keving wanted to take pictures of the young girls in their bathing suits while they were at the pool. According to Elisha, she headed him off and got someone else to take the pictures.
All of this, however, still begs the question, if she knew about Kevin’s penchant for children why didn’t she warn the parents of the children Kevin had access to? Additionally, why did she remain with Kevin throughout all of this?
We’ve all heard of the battered woman syndrome and how many women are afraid to leave or continue to return to the abusive relationship. But – this is different. This involved children who were being preyed upon and exploited – and she remained.
While all of this would, undoubtedly, make a really good movie for Lifetime, it really doesn’t play well to those of us who realize that the semantics of supremacist and separatist really doesn’t make a hill of beans or to those of us who, at the realization that our spouse was seriously twisted and deviant would have taken the high-road and left the bastard’s ass hanging out to dry while singing like a canary at the local precinct.
In fact, the only thing it does is solidify our belief that those involved in racist activities really are pretty creepy people.
