Wednesday, September 18, 2013

A Personal Look Inside W.E.B.

A few weeks back a series of messages were left on the blog detailing one individual's experience with the Calgary-based hate group WEB. Our readers are very well acquainted with WEB and the actions of their members, the most violent action of which was the murder of Mark Mariani, a crime that WEB member Tyler Sturrup pleaded guilty to and WEB founder Robert Reitmeier is still currently awaiting trial.

Though we didn't pass them through moderation when they were posted, we were able to contact the person who left these comments and asked if we could publish them as an article. Though understandably a little reticent at first, the individual felt that perhaps her story could help others who might be vulnerable to the lure of hate groups.

The following is one person's experience. We have attempted to conceal some identities but are under no illusion that those who are more personally acquainted with the characters in this account won't be able to easily figure out whom is being referred to. The story was compelling but raw; we worked with the writer to tell the story with as little distraction as possible while attempting to accurately detail her truth as she understands it.

And with that, we give you an account of one person's personal encounter with the Western European Bloodlines, Calgary hate group.
In the year he and I dated and lived together, “K” never did anything to me; he never once hurt me physically though we had our share of the occasional arguments and drama that happened because we were young. I was emotionally damaged and he had substance abuse problems; he used drugs and he drank a little too much, enough to have himself hospitalized at least once. But “K” never hit me when we were dating. He was 18 at the time. It was when he first started hanging out with Robert Reitmeier and got that tattoo that "K" changed. 
“K” came from a broken home and never met his mother until the year he met me. He did not have a relationship with his father and any relationship he had with his grandparents was terrible. “K” was a goth kid when he met me and I didn't like goths. So when I got involved in the punk scene, he turned punk to please me. He worked his ass off and did everything to make me happy. 
The day “K” and I met Reitmeier (we were both homeless at the time) was at some girls’ house near Chinook. Reitmeier was completely drunk when we arrived. I had a 15 centimeter pink Mohawk. “K” also had a huge mohawk. Reitmeier wasn't very receptive of us until he got a glimpse of “K’s” personality and saw an opening to "work his magic". He asked “K” if he liked gays, and “K” was lead into responding "no." He asked “K” if he liked Jews, same thing happened. He asked “K” if he liked black people, he was once again lead into saying that he didn't. Finally Reitmeier announced, "I guess you are a Nazi punk! Come hang out with me and bring your girlfriend." 
In spite of my heritage Reitmeier appeared to respect me when I came over and never once hit on me when I was alone with him. It had nothing to do with race as he had cheated on a girlfriend with a punk who was far from the members of WEB would think of as “White.” Reitmeier fascinated me and sometimes scared me. 
I later realized that Reitmeier was a sociopath and came to understood what he did to “K”. The thing many people don't understand is that racism is just the excuse to find a way to belong. “K’s” mother is part Scottish but also part First Nation (Cree).  On his dad's side, he is Ukrainian - a part of Europe mostly populated by fugitive Jews by the way that coincides with fleeing to other countries away from Hitler's grip. At one point when we were dating, before the whole Nazi thing, “K” would brag about his Native heritage to fit in. All “K” ever wanted was to have a family and be liked, so he did anything to have that. I do wish I slept out in the cold to avoid all this shit his life turned into, because of that night. 
Once “K” met Reitmeier and Reitmeier  got to know this stuff and called “K” a brother, or "family", “K” really took it literally. Reitmeier knew what he was doing. I knew what Reitmeier was doing to “K” and I spent months fighting against it and against Reitmeier’s  manipulation. For me not to lose “K” I had to go with the flow and pretend I supported it, however  there were countless times where I would call on him and say "See, this guy helped us and he's Muslim" or "why are you beatboxing with a black guy on the train?!" (he was drunk). But I kept saying it for “K” to realize this was not who he was and he was  living a lie. 
My life being friends with Reitmeier while dating “K” revolved around drugs and alcohol. Occasionally there would be Blue Eyed Devils or Type O negative playing in the background of every line we snorted. As for political awareness, Reitmeier was in it for the glamour and the violence and the control he would have over the “fresh cuts.” 
I remember in July 2008 “K” broke up with me on my birthday some weeks after we had our first year anniversary because Reitmeier told him to. “K”’s mother was really angry. Angry that “K” had listened to Reitmeier. I even recall her saying to “K”, "if you hate Natives so much then shoot me in the head" or something like that. We got back together a day later or so, but our relationship was rocky and my mother decided  to protect me from him for as long as it took me to think clearly and realize that I was ruining my life because of my love for “K”. 
So I took a trip to Brazil. I told “K” I was being "deported" and I told everyone that story as well. My mother had convinced me of this course of action on the grounds that, "if he really loves you he will come after you." And frankly I couldn't take it anymore. The whole power trip and manipulation of Reitmeier over “K” (even though he knew “K”). Other personal reasons drove me to agree with my mom, but I won’t go into those reasons in any detail here. 
That same year, “K” sent me a message on Nexopia wishing me a happy Valentine's Day. He had started dating another girl A year after that, his girlfriend stabbed him on the leg or something like that and they broke up. “K” called my dad's mom's house in Sao Paulo, completely drunk after she went through heart surgery 6 o'clock in the fucking morning and yelled at her to "speak English"  (she “only” speaks French, Greek, Italian and Portuguese). She called me later to tell me that and I think on the same day I got a message on Nexopia from another girl telling me "“K” is sorry about how he treated you last week". 
I was travelling abroad with friends, and very fucking confused considering I haven't seen him or spoke to him in a year at the time. I believed he called me a week later and we texted for a couple of days, until he got arrested for some shit. I called Reitmeier and asked him what had happened and why on Earth “K” had told his ex-girlfriend to message me to bail him out. Rob said "“K” is a fucking faggot and he is out of WEB. He cried because he is in jail." 
And that's the person “K” considered his, “brother.” 
I was pissed off over the deception “K” was trying to put me through again, when I gave him a chance out of the goodness of my heart and tried my best not to cringe at his "I love you's" after what he did me, but I couldn't. I sent him a message and detailed  “some truths” to him about about his behavior. We never spoke again. 
It is my belief that Reitmeier is a sociopath who turned a warm hearted person into a pathological liar much like himself. He knew “K” was Native, but he also knew "K" was broken, so he took “K” under his wing to have power and control over him. I still can't tell you what are my feelings towards Reitmeier, considering he has the trait of a text book sociopath. He could be charming in one breath, but in the next he could talk to me about killing people and state that, "killing an ant is the same thing, therefore when I killed a real person I would have the same feeling. “ He is a very pleasant person if he sees you are useful to him, but a very unpleasant person when he no longer needs you. I can't really say he has the capacity to show any real emotion or to be truly genuine about anything. Basically, I always thought Reitmeier recruited people to go to jail with him, bury a body with him, or die for him, and if you didn't fit the description, he booted you, like he did other fresh cuts I met. Personally, I consider those to be the lucky ones.  
I am writing this because I absolutely don't give a damn about what the Nazis think anymore. No death threat in the world would have me take back the truth considering all these people do is lead a life of dishonesty and confusion, continuously digging a bigger hole for themselves over some philosophy of, "National Socialism” that they actually have really very little understanding of.



























3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It seems from her letter she doesn't want his name published and you didn't tag him. If you want his identity to remain secret you should change the letter he is referred to by. WEB only ever had around 4 people in it and it's clear who she is talking about with the current pseudonym.

Unknown said...

Ms. Lady,

Your story resonated with me,a former white supremacist. Keep up your good work. Speak loud and remain vulnerable. I have learnt that transparency and vulnerability are my strength and key to being shielded from these people.

This was tragically sad and repeats a common narrative. If you email me at scholarsfromtheunderground.com I will gladly share with you, or anyone else, my latest writing (thesis) that tells the inverse of this perverted narrative.

Good on you!

Daniel

Anonymous said...

Wow, what a courageous woman. Madam, if you still read this blog, I tip my hat to you. Thank you for doing your part to shine more light into the dark, dank hole that these cockroaches crawl in and out of...