Teenage white supremacist who declared war on minorities in a neo-Nazi plot quietly released from jail
A Neo-Nazi protestor outside the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center in 2009. (Scott Olson/Getty)
Richard Tobin, a man accused of coordinating a neo-Nazi plot to “wage war” against minority groups, has been quietly released from prison just a few months after his arrest.
The court records detailing the reason for the man’s bond request have been sealed and there is no explanation for his release.
Tobin was arrested after allegedly coordinating a plot to vandalise synagogues in Michigan and Wisconsin in September last year.
Aged 18 at the time, he told investigators that he personally launched the plan under the name “Operation Kristallnacht”, a reference to the deadly 1938 pogrom when Nazis looted and burned synagogues and Jewish homes.
He also told federal agents that he fantasised about killing Black people, and once became enraged at the sight of large crowds of Black people at a mall in New Jersey.
“That day, he had a machete in his car and he wanted to ‘let loose’ with it,” the criminal complaint said.
His animosity also extended towards LGBT+ people and he was reportedly “triggered” by Pride parades.
“Richard Tobin said that he was triggered by the state of the country, such as when he saw a Pride parade or a large number of African Americans in one location. For example, simply being in Times Square in New York caused Tobin to have these feelings,” wrote FBI special agent Jason Novick.
Tobin’s arrest was part of a broader FBI investigation into ‘The Base’ and ‘Atomwaffen Division’, two white supremacist groups that promote mass violence to fuel society’s collapse.
Despite the severity of his plans, and the evidence of his “obsession with… acts of mass violence”, he was inexplicably released from jail last week on a $100,000 bond.
A federal magistrate ordered him to remain under house arrest and prohibited him from accessing the internet. He’s also been barred from having any contact with current or former members of The Base or Atomwaffen Division.
