Evan Thomas—a racist who has a long history of active involvement in the white supremacist movement—has recently surfaced again in Michigan. This time Thomas is using the name “Thomas Kuettner” and he is aligning himself with the Warren Tea Party. According to numerous media articles, Kuettner is the leader of the Warren Tea Party and has been actively involved with a ballot proposal to reduce the size of the Warren City Council.
Evan Thomas Kuettner is perhaps one of the clearest examples of racist involvement in the Tea Party movement, something that numerous commentators have written about over the past two years. Kuettner’s role in the Warren Tea Party is an example of how the Tea Party movement could be a potential recruiting ground for the white supremacist movement. Indeed, there have been numerous reports of white supremacists getting involved in Tea Party rallies and organizing efforts (see the website “Tea Party Nationalism” for a good exploration of links between the Tea Party and the white supremacist movement).
Kuettner is pictured below with Canadian white supremacist Paul Fromm (Kuettner has organized talks in Michigan by Fromm on multiple occasions):
And here he is addressing the Warren City Council and talking with one of its members:
As is usually the case with racists like Thomas Kuettner, he denied being a white supremacist in the media and blamed the allegations of racism on “the far left” but his past is abundantly clear: Kuettner has been actively involved with the racist right for years.
Evan Thomas Kuettner’s History of Racist Organizing
Kuettner’s white supremacist activities are well documented online, both among white supremacist sources and in those opposed to the white supremacist agenda. Thomas has organized speaking engagements for white supremacists and attended white supremacist events. One of the best profiles of his activities is found in an article titled “Michigan ‘Stormfront’ Members Attended Nick Griffin Speech at MSU.” In that article, the blog MediaMouse.org looks at his participation in white supremacist groups (such as the National Alliance and his own European American Association), his views (for example his belief that the Holocaust is “a sloppily manufactured, fictional story”), and his politics (he describes himself as a “white nationalist”).
Kuettner also founded a racist group called Vox Nationale last year according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Canadian racist Paul Fromm gave the keynote talk at a conference organized by Vox Nationale last November.
Not the First Time White Supremacists Have Gotten Politically Active In Michigan
Unfortunately, this is not the first time that white supremacists have gotten politically active in Michigan. Randy Gray—who has been a member of the Ku Klux Klan in Michigan—was elected and later removed as a Republican precinct delegate back in 2008. Gray was also active in the Ron Paul presidential campaign before being removed after news of his racist activities surfaced.
Members of the student group Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) at Michigan State University (MSU) have also sought elective office in the past.
While it is easy to expose the past of racists like Evan Thomas Kuettner and Randy Gray, it is essential that folks remain vigilant and watch for racists getting involved in political activity. The white supremacist movement engages in a diverse array of tactics and it may manifest itself in any number of ways.
