The Failure of "Cobbsville" Part III: Painting By Numbers

Right to left: Cobb, Mike Spence, Albert Borgmann, Kynan Dutton

The photo above was taken and used in a story about Cobb's efforts to take over the little village of Leith, North Dakota. The men featured in the photo were all, at least at the time, had all movedto Leith and were committed to the Cobbsville project.

We'll be referring to the photo again later.
 
A few days ago, a racist serial killer named Joseph Paul Franklin who murdered upwards 22 people because of their ethnicity or because they were in a interracial relationship, was executed. Among these victims was Mercedes Lynn Masters, a 15 year old girl whom Franklin had a relationship with; a sex trade worker, Franklin murdered her when he learned that she had black customers. He also killed two hitchhikers because one had a black boy friend. In another case he murdered two black cousins, ages 13 and 14, by bravely shooting them from an overpass.

So of course these and other cowardly murders makes Franklin a man worthy of high esteem in the mind of one Bill Noble:

But then Bill isn't the only person mourning the "loss" of Joseph Paul Franklin:

Glenn Miller here actually had a long running friendship with Franklin and was frequently in communication with the man even up to the day of his execution.

We mention this incident to indicate both the character and judgment of both Noble and Miller because in addition to lionizing a murderer as a martyr for the, "white race," they also both support no jailed Craig Cobb's efforts in North Dakota.

Now these last screen shots are actually a good starting out point for the article that follows

Prior to his and Kynan Dutton's arrest this past weekend, Cobb posted a message on the White Nations forum:

We would like to note the very specific language used in this particular screen shot. The specific time, number of individuals involved, ethnicities, genders, and approximate ages are provided. Cobb also claims that his two housemates, Albert Borgmann (Freddy) and Kynan Dutton were witnesses who were able to provide these details; Borgmann catching the vandals in the act and Dutton suggesting that he saw the trucks driving away from the incident followed by members of the town thus implying that there was some sort of conspiracy.

The incident was also discussed on Cobb's old haunt VNN:

Not long after, the media covered the story:

Vandals target Cobb's house in Leith

November 10, 2013 6:43 pm  •  By Lauren Donovan

BISMARCK, N.D. — Vandals struck Craig Cobb's house and two vehicles parked outside early Sunday morning, targeting white separatists who plan to take over the small town of Leith.

The vandalism occurred at about 1:30 a.m. and is under investigation by the Grant County Sheriff’s Department, Deputy John Foss said.

Cobb, a neo-Nazi and hate crimes fugitive from Canada, has attracted strong opposition since he moved to Leith and purchased property to start an all-white enclave. The town has 24 residents.

In nearly three months of heightened emotions, it is the first time the tension has escalated to vandalism, Foss said.

Cobb was not home at the time, but Kynan Dutton, a member of the National Socialist Movement, said his wife, Deborah Dutton, and five children were sleeping when Alfred Borgmann, another of Cobb's followers, alerted them to the activity outside the house.

Dutton said he'd conducted his nightly patrol of Leith earlier that evening and because all was quiet, he concluded that nothing would occur.

Instead, Dutton said, five tires on two vehicles were slashed and vandals spray painted obscenities on his and Borgmann's vehicles. Vandals also spray painted the words "back in black" on Cobb's house and the vehicles.

Dutton said he saw three men and a woman jump into a dark blue extended cab pickup and speed off, leaving full and empty beer cans on the property.

Dutton said the vandalism was childish and not something his group would stoop to.

"I'm assuming this is only going to get worse," Dutton said. "We're supposed to be the hateful ones, yet we're getting hated on," he said.

Dutton said he's now maintaining a 24-hour watch on the property.

Cobb said he plans to offer a substantial reward and leaflet school students in Elgin for information.

Not surprisingly, the folks on White Nations became apoplectic. Many of their posts tinged with threats and fantasies of retribution and randomly identifying townsfolk and others as the likely perps:

Things soon go off the tracks for Cobb and co. You remember this photograph?

As a reminder, these were, as of October 1, the Cobb loyalists who decided to move to Leith to try and take over the city. Evidently by the time of the vandalism incident Mike Spence (the handsome fella in the black t-shirt) had decided living without running water or a toilet wasn't all it was cracked up to be and headed home. However Kynan Dutton and Albert Frederick "Freddy" Borgmann had remained.

Well, suffice it to say Borgmann was no longer in the picture either by the time Cobb posted this:

Yep. After accusing people in the town, folks from a nearby reservation, ARA members in Chicago, and the SPLC, ADL, and other organizations, it was someone Cobb himself had welcomed into his home.

Now this doesn't mean that Cobb was ready to give up his conspiracy theories. No, Borgmann now became an ADL/SPLC/ARA plant from the start who worked closely with the people of the town (in particular the only black resident) to terrorize poor Craig Cobb, Kynan Dutton, and Dutton's family.

Some of the subsequent posts are just as paranoid as the preceding:

But one poster seems to have at least some vague understanding that all is not kosher in Cobbsville:

Now, since Cobb had made wild and unsubstantiated claims regarding the circumstances behind the vandalism, perhaps we might be permitted to offer an alternative theory?

Frustrated as a result of the exceedingly bad press, one of the individuals involved in the Cobbsville project decided to stage an incident to illicit sympathy and to recast themselves as the victims. The personn could have been Borgmann or it could have been Kynan. It could have been done with or without the knowledge of Craig Cobb. However, as a result of the investigation, it became apparent that the perpetrators of the vandalism were not three aboriginal males in their 20s and a woman, but someone closer to home. As a result, someone had to be thrown under the bus and take the blame, rightly or wrongly, and cast as an anti-racist plant.

Do we have any evident at all to substantiate this theory? Not at all, but you have to admit that it makes a lot more sense than anything Cobb and his supporters have been able to offer as an alternative.

Perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise then that Cobb started to become a little bit despondent about the efforts in Leith:

More on that later.