“If you’re interviewing me right now, they’re going to arrest me,” the sheriff said.
A thousand miles away, the FBI tracked down a man who allegedly demanded that he be shot for speaking out against neo-Nazis.
If he’s scared, Sheriff Mike Chitwood won’t show it. He wears a gold star badge on his chest and looks defiant as he discusses a recent death threat he’s received.
The man behind it posted on an online forum to “shut up” [Chitwood] Stand up and show who is in charge.”
Sheriff Chitwood, 59, became popular earlier this month after he called out a far-right group that had been harassing Jews in Orlando, Florida.
He stood with faith and community leaders and said being blacklisted by the group was a “badge of honor” and dared its members to shoot him.
Orlando has been hit by a spate of anti-Semitic incidents, and Florida has become “ground zero for the far right,” according to one expert.
Jewish residents of the area, harassed and hunted by far-right elements, woke up to find anti-Semitic leaflets on their doorsteps.
“This is a display of neo-Nazi ideology,” Sheriff Chitwood said at a news conference watched around the world.
In an interview with Sky News, he warned that extremist groups “need to be contained” because someone who heard them could be indoctrinated and go out and commit mass shootings.
Member of far-right group yells at Jews outside synagogue
insult anti-semitism
One of the first incidents that prompted Sheriff Chitwood to take a stand was the harassment of worshipers outside an Orlando synagogue in February.
The group later posted the video online. In the video, a man wearing a Hawaiian shirt and sunglasses stands outside a synagogue; a string of garlic hangs around his neck. He raised his arms in chilling gestures during the Nazi salute, grinned at the camera, and praised Hitler.
When a worshiper tried to leave the parking lot of the place of worship, he spat anti-Semitic slurs at them through a loudspeaker.
The shocking footage, played by Sheriff Chitwood during his news conference, is part of a montage of footage showing a spate of anti-Semitic attacks in the community.
“These scumbags are in the wrong county,” the sheriff warned, gravely.
Since filming and naming many of those suspected of being involved in the abuse, Sheriff Chitwood has been working with police and the FBI to track down neo-Nazi groups and investigate potential crimes.
Sheriff Mike Chitwood lambasted a group of far-right “cowardly scumbags” in a fiery press conference.Photo: Volusia Sheriff’s Office
Last week, a 38-year-old man from New Jersey was arrested at his mother’s home after police said he threatened to kill the sheriff anonymously online because of his opposition to the group.
Richard Gordon was charged with threatening to kill or cause harm in writing. He is accused of posting a message on an online forum saying “just shoot Chitwood in the head and he is no longer a problem. They have to find someone new to fix the problem”.
Speaking to Sky News, Sergeant Chitwood said it was just one of many attempts to intimidate him and his family since he spoke at a news conference. He claimed someone had made a bogus 911 call to his parents’ home and that his daughter had been answering the call.
But he refuses to be intimidated, saying, “I’ve been in this business for 35 years and I’m very good at what I do … I have a lot of faith in law enforcement.
“There are a lot of people like me. I just happen to be the most outspoken person,” he added.
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“A bunch of nasty keyboard warriors”?
The group that filmed a hate demonstration outside an Orlando synagogue moved to the area from California late last year. Their campaign also sparked outrage in Los Angeles, where the group hung anti-Semitic banners on highways just days after Kayne West made bigoted remarks about Jews in October 2022 .
Then in February, two people were shot and killed outside a Los Angeles synagogue. One suspect has since been charged with a federal hate crime.
In the Sunshine State, the group has been accused of flying abusive banners and projecting anti-Semitic messages near the world-famous Daytona International Speedway racetrack.
He said the Los Angeles shooting was the final straw for Sheriff Chitwood.
He told Sky News: “I was like, ‘This is it. I have to come out and let my community know that a bunch of cowardly scumbags have come into our community’.”
He called a news conference to stand with leaders from various faiths and groups, as well as state politicians, and said enough was enough.
According to Patrick Rickards, executive director of Life After Hate, an American nonprofit that helps people leave violent far-right hate groups, the far-right network is a “stunt-driven organization trying to gain attention.”
“They’re mainly a bunch of hateful keyboard warriors,” he said.
Anti-Semitism and extremist activity ‘growing exponentially’
Today, Florida is home to an overlapping network of white supremacist groups, including some who are openly neo-Nazis.
The number of reported incidents of anti-Semitism in the state has been on the rise for years — more than doubling since 2018, according to data compiled by the anti-defamation league (ADL), a civil rights group.
Florida ranks fourth among all 50 states in terms of reported anti-Semitic incidents over the past three years, ADL data show. The group also recorded 471 incidents of distributing white supremacist propaganda in the state during the period — a 10th-ranked number.
Sarah Emmons, regional director of the ADL in Florida, said the group is “concerned by the exponential growth in anti-Semitic and extremist activity — both within the state and across the country.”
‘Active frontal attack’ on Jewish community
“These are verbal violence by outsiders,” said local rabbi Rob Rennick.
Some in his congregation live in fear after someone in his congregation dropped anti-Semitic leaflets outside their home.
“We’ve seen expressions of violence in our community through leaflet distribution, public demonstrations, projecting images on buildings, disrupting people driving in and out of synagogue facilities. This is a frontal attack on the Jewish community,” he said.
“The thing about this kind of frontal expression of hate is that even when it doesn’t show up on your doorstep, you feel confrontation and hostility and it starts to feel like a desire to do harm.
“And then you start feeling threatened.”
A swastika flag outside the 2022 Convention Center in Tampa, Florida
WWII veteran sees swastika again
Marvin Miller is a World War II veteran. He and his four brothers all served in the war and heard all the anti-Semitic slurs, he said.
He is 88 and lives near Orlando, where he has seen the far right come alive and spread their message of hate.
“How could they sit there with the swastika on their arm and practically swear allegiance to the Nazi Party?” he said. “It’s weird, it seems so easy to find followers of this right-wing movement, or white supremacists. It’s kind of scary.”
Marvin said it was heartwarming to see his community make it clear that neo-Nazi groups are not welcome.
“It’s not just about Jews because they’re above other minorities. Our black community, the Latino community, they’re saying the same thing,” he added.
Anti-Semitism isn’t just a problem for far-right adults. It can also be seen at school.
A mother whose daughter goes to school north of Orlando has been sharing on TikTok how she was bullied for being Jewish. She said the swastika was posted in the women’s restroom and the incident escalated into “targeted hate bullying”.
Her video series about school has been viewed thousands of times, with commenters praising her for being outspoken.
Police officers in charge of security during the protests warned of a possible repeat of the violence of the riots at the U.S. Capitol.
Florida set to become ‘staging ground’ for far-right extremists
Historically a melting pot of different cultures and political beliefs, Florida was once a battleground state that oscillated between Democrats and Republicans. But now, the state of Obama’s two victories is firmly preserved.
“Florida has essentially become ground zero for the far right in America,” said Professor Colin Baker, an expert on terrorism and political violence at Pomona College. “It’s a “promised land” for Trump supporters and the right,” he added.
Arie Perliger, a professor of security studies at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, said that in states like Florida, there is a trend of people from minority backgrounds moving out of inner cities to the suburbs. This, he said, has made the areas more diverse and, in some cases, met with backlash – a situation that has been further exploited by politicians.
Professor Baker said that while right-wing activity had not materialized into an organized movement, it was moving in that direction.
“Florida, in my view, is going to be a staging ground for these kinds of things,” he said, warning that when extreme rightists get involved in local politics, they are often able to control local institutions.
Looking ahead, Mr Riccard from Life After Hate predicts there will be a “significant rise” in hate crimes over the next few years following the moratorium following the January 6 Capitol riot.
He added: “2022 is mostly a year of planning and these organizations trying to figure out what the next big thing they can do is.”