Aryan solicitors run out of Vidor, request police

A group of Aryan Freedom Network (AFN) solicitors attempting to pass out fliers in Vidor were escorted out of town by police – at their own request – once protestors began attacking the hate speech with love speech this past weekend.

According to police reports, the Vidor Police Department (VPD) Dispatch Center received numerous calls of a disturbance at the intersection of N. Main and East Tram just after noon on Saturday, Aug. 5.

“The caller advised that there were several armed individuals with masks that were causing a disturbance,” VPD advised. “Upon arrival, officers located several individuals that were displaying an Aryan Freedom Network sign that were armed with firearms.

“There were also several citizens that were confronting this group.”

Police reporting noted that members of the AFN were attempting to “enter the roadway to distribute pamphlets,” which is noted as a violation of the “No Soliciting/No Peddling” city ordinance “due to the safety concern of entering moving traffic.”

VPD police reported that officers met with the group, all out-of-towners, who advised that they were in the process of leaving due to the “aggressive atmosphere that had developed.”

Guns were noted on site, police further reported, but all the suspects were legally licensed to carry, the police further advised. Citations were issued, however, for those solicitors witnessed handing out printed materials in the roadway.

Those involved in the disturbance are identified as Texans: Caleb Bentley, of Houston; Maxwell Barragy, of Lavernia; Tyler Everett, of Magnolia; Matthew Dawson of Richmond; Mark Hayes, of Humble; and Justin McConnell, of Houston.

The leader of the group requested that Vidor PD follow them to the city limits as they feared further confrontation according to VPD. Anti Defamation League data details Aryan Freedom Network (AFN), as a small, but growing, neo-Nazi group based in De Kalb, Texas, that claims membership in 25 states since it began in 2018 as a networking site for white extremists.

“AFN has been increasingly active since transitioning from a white supremacist networking site to a membership organization in January 2022, spreading white supremacist propaganda, holding anti-LGBTQ+ demonstrations and organizing private gatherings,” ADL data reads. “AFN promotes hardline white supremacist views and largely directs its vitriol at Jewish people, Black people and the LGBTQ+ community.”

Since January 2022, AFN has distributed propaganda across the country, mostly in Texas.

The group’s propaganda emphasizes neo-Nazi and antisemitic messaging, including white racial “pride” and “purity,” ADL reports.