KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Members of the Knoxville Police Department and members of its leadership attended a presentation on Tuesday by Tony McAleer.
They said that the presentation was about the dynamics of white supremacist movements and how law enforcement could address anti-Semitism in their communities. KPD said the event was facilitated through Cynthia Deitle, the former Chief of the FBI's Civil Rights Unit.
According to his website, McAleer spent his youth and early adulthood in hate groups. According to him, he was a leader of a Canadian neo-Nazi hate group and helped organize other hate groups. He also ran a racist hotline, eventually landing in the Supreme Court of Canada in 1998 in a lawsuit that focused on violations of the Canadian Human Rights Act.
McAleer eventually founded Life After Hate, a nonprofit that helps people leave violent, far-right groups. The nonprofit developed a framework that helps current members of hate groups identify with former members of similar groups, creating a type of "peer mentor" relationship.
"Peer mentors are 'Formers,' people who have successfully changed their violent extremist beliefs and identity," according to the nonprofit. "They have built and continue to maintain nonviolent social networks and strive to reintegrate into society in prosocial roles."
It also specifies four steps to help people leave violent hate groups — disengagement, deradicalization, responsibility and accountability and finally reintegration.
McAleer has worked with law enforcement and government leaders to discuss how leaders can best address violent white supremacist groups. He currently works as an instructor at the University of Southern California.
