Alleged Leader Of Neo-Nazi Group Identified As Orangevale Resident Andrew Casarez
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — The alleged leader of a neo-nazi group with a national following is living in Orangevale, officials confirmed.
It's a new-aged hate group preaching violence online. The "Bowl Patrol" has less than 100 followers but the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office says that's enough for them to take action.
A heinous act of violence at a church in South Carolina was carried out in 2015 by Dylann Roof. The then 21-year-old murdered nine people at Emanuel AME Church. His crime would go on to inspire others to do the same.
Both Robert Bowers, who killed 11 people at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, and Dylann Roof have been canonized as "bowl saints" by the "Bowl Patrol." The Southern Poverty Law Center told CBS13 the name "Bowl Patrol" was inspired by Dylann Roof's distinctive "bowl-cut" hairstyle.
Howard Graves with the Southern Poverty Law Center said the "Bowl Patrol" is a group of neo-nazis that subscribe to accelerationism, an idea that promotes terror and violence that ultimately benefits whites. The group appeared on the radar of the Southern Poverty Law Center in 2017.
"Bowl patrol continued to gather on Telegram which is a decentralized messaging platform," Graves said.
For years the self-proclaimed leader hid behind the pseudonym Vic Mackey, hosting the Bowl Cast, a podcast spewing hateful rhetoric and language. But his true identity was not known until now.
The Sacramento County Sheriff's Office, along with participating federal agencies, has identified Vic Mackey as Orangevale resident Andrew Casarez.
Casarez can be seen in his 2011 Bella Vista High School yearbook photo. He's now the target of a multi-agency investigation.
"For a little over three weeks our detectives, along with multiple federal agencies, have been looking into Andrew Casarez," sheriff's office spokesperson Lacey Nelson said.
The sheriff's office served a search warrant just weeks ago at this house.
"We're able to obtain a gun violence restraining order against him and a search warrant, and a firearm was seized," Nelson said.
Detectives used Casarez's online activity to get them in the door
"This search warrant it's the first of its kind at least in the country. As far as how we obtained it and were able to serve it," Nelson said. "He was posting enough racist rhetoric and propaganda on Facebook that it was concerning that his behaviors could become violent in retaliation."
Local agencies are keeping a close eye on the house connected to Andrew Casarez. As for the FBI, they don't police ideology. They will only take action if a person threatens violence or actually commits a crime. But the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office wasn't willing to wait.
"Instead of waiting for him to go out and commit acts of violence, per se, they were able to ideally stop it before it started. But he did have a firearm in his possession," Nelson said.
The "Bowl Patrol" has less than 100 members but researchers with the Southern Poverty Law Center say their online impact could be endless and especially dangerous for his hometown of Orangevale.