Aryan Freedom Network

The Aryan Freedom Network (AFN) is an American neo-Nazi group based in Texas with chapters in 34 U.S. states. AFN maintains its activities by holding private events, participating in public demonstrations, and distributing flyers. The group is led by Tonia Sue Berry, Dalton Henry Stout, and his father, George Bois Stout, an arms dealer based in De Kalb.^[3][2] According to the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism (COE) and Dallas News, AFN has significantly contributed to Texas leading the nation in white supremacist propaganda distribution.^[4][5][6][7]

Aryan Freedom Network
Founder	Dalton Henry Stout
Foundation	2018
Country	United States
Motives	Establishment of a white ethnostate through a race war
Headquarters	Texas
Ideology	Neo-Nazism Racial separatism Christian Identity (some)
Size	1,000-1,500[1]
Allies	Keystone Knights of the Ku Klux Klan ShieldWall American Futurists[2]
Website	http://white-power.org

History

AFN is the latest white supremacist group established by Dalton Stout in recent years. Before 2018, Stout led a Klan group. In April 2018, he claimed to have joined the white supremacist League of the South (LS), appearing alongside LS founder Michael Hill at a Knights Party event in Arkansas. He also attempted to establish and promote a skinhead group prior to forming AFN.^[8] AFN has welcomed "pro-White motorcycle clubs" and former members of the National Justice Party into its ranks. The group includes a youth wing called "Aryan Youth" and a women's group known as the "Valkyrie Division".^[7]

Ideology

According to The Forward, AFN describes itself as engaging in a "racial holy war based on the ideas of White Racial Supremacy and establishing an Aryan Homeland for our People," and is "on the hunt" for communists in Texas. The group frequently shares videos showing dozens of members undergoing armed training and shooting mannequins painted with Stars of David.^[9][2] Membership requires individuals to be "100% of White European ancestry, including: Nordic, Slavic, Mediterranean, Celtic, or Germanic background.”^[10]

Actions

AFN holds an annual "White Unity Conference" and has organized multiple anti-LGBT "anti-grooming demonstrations." In 2022, the group organized at least 12 private gatherings across several states, including Texas, South Carolina, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Idaho, and Nebraska. In January 2023, AFN announced "Aryan Fest," a white supremacist music festival. During one anti-LGBT event, armed AFN members menaced Grand Prairie drag show attendees.^[2][5][11]

In 2022, AFN also organized an event in Hayden, Idaho, at the former headquarters of Aryan Nations.^[12] Both AFN and Aryan Nations share an ideological affinity for the antisemitic Christian Identity movement.^[13]

In 2023, AFN held an event and circulated flyers in Lexington, Kentucky. The flyers read: “You know who else was condemned for ‘hate speech?’ Jesus Christ.”^[14]

Leadership

AFN is led by Dalton Henry Stout (also known as "Brother Henry"), Tonia Sue Berry (aka Daisy Barr), and Stout's father, George Bois Stout, an arms dealer based in De Kalb.^[3][2][15] According to the Anti-Defamation League, Berry and Dalton Stout married in 2020 but appear to have divorced in April 2022. However, according to Reuters, this was a legal move to protect assets in civil rights lawsuits, effectively a divorce in name only.^[1][8] According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Stout's family leads De Kalb's Ku Klux Klan chapter. Berry's father was also an Imperial Wizard of the KKK, and the couple has been described as "racist royalty".^[15][1]