Hidden in Plain Sight: How White Supremacists Infiltrated the U.S. Government

For over 40 years, white nationalists have quietly obeyed a chilling command: "Ditch the swastikas. Become the system." Today, they hold badges, clearances, and courtrooms.

They aren’t waving flags or burning crosses on lawns. They’re wearing uniforms, processing classified documents, and handing down court rulings. For decades, white supremacists have not just lingered on the fringes of American society — they’ve been infiltrating its core.

This wasn’t some organic drift. It was a plan. A directive. A strategy crafted by one of the most notorious neo-Nazis in American history: Tom Metzger.

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In the 1980s, Metzger, former Grand Dragon of the California Klan and founder of White Aryan Resistance, changed the game. He told his followers to stop acting like skinheads and start acting like candidates. “Don’t wear swastikas. Get educated. Get into law enforcement. Get into government. Become the system you want to overthrow.”

“The real revolutionaries are not out on the street throwing Molotov cocktails — they’re infiltrating the system. Become lawyers. Get into the military and get rank. Become police and get rank.”
— Tom Metzger, WAR Hotline Message, c. 1988

It sounded absurd at the time. But today, we live in Metzger’s America, a place where white nationalists don’t need a revolution. They just need a badge, a bench, or a ballot.

In this article, we’ll trace how Metzger’s “ghost skin” strategy took root not in the streets, but in the institutions meant to protect democracy. We’ll expose the government offices, police departments, and military units where his influence is no longer a theory but a threat.

This isn’t just about Metzger. It’s about the consequences of ignoring him.

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Tom Metzger: From Robes to Rogue Strategy

Tom Metzger didn’t just wear the robes; he helped redesign the blueprint for white supremacy in America. Once a Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan in California, Metzger broke from the traditional theatrics of the far right and embraced something far more dangerous: institutional infiltration.

In the early 1980s, Metzger formed White Aryan Resistance (WAR) after leaving the Klan, believing the old-school cross-burners had become relics of a dying movement. WAR was different. It was brash, media-savvy, and ideologically radical. However, beneath the surface, Metzger was playing a long game.

“If you want to change the system, you don’t attack it from the outside,” he told followers. “You become it. Then you rot it from the inside out.”

He urged young white nationalists to drop the skinhead aesthetic and adopt the look of public servants. No swastikas. No boots. Just clean-shaven haircuts and job applications.

He didn’t want another David Duke in a white hood. He wanted one in a police cruiser, a courtroom, or the Pentagon.

“Keep your hair cut, keep your mouth shut, and infiltrate,” Metzger instructed. “Don’t go to rallies — go to college. Become the teacher, not the dropout.”

This was the birth of the “ghost skin” strategy, where white supremacists hide their beliefs, blend in, and climb the ranks. Metzger pushed it relentlessly:

“Don’t get tattoos. Go to law school. Become a judge. Get into law enforcement. Get into politics. Get inside and wait. When the time is right, you’ll know.”

“You don’t need a swastika to be a soldier,” he said. “The real warriors are the ones who can pass a background check.”

It was a chilling inversion of civil rights tactics. Where movements like CORE and the NAACP sought to integrate systems for justice, Metzger’s plan was to infect systems from within.

He didn’t need an army. He needed a pipeline.

Planting the Seeds: Metzger’s Order Echoes in Institutions

In 2006, nearly two decades after Metzger first issued his call to “infiltrate the system,” the FBI quietly issued a bulletin warning of exactly that. The report described how white supremacists had been “infiltrating law enforcement communities” and using their positions to gather intelligence, undermine investigations, and quietly advance their agenda.

The memo referenced “ghost skins” — extremists who hide their affiliations to secure government jobs. The warning was clear: you won’t see them coming until they’re already inside.

Police departments in Virginia, Texas, Illinois, and Florida have all faced reports of white nationalist ties within their ranks. Some officers were caught in private Facebook groups. Others bore suspicious tattoos or shared racist memes. Many remained undisciplined or quietly promoted.

And the infiltration didn’t stop there.

A 2020 Pentagon report acknowledged the growing presence of white nationalist sympathies in the military. A 2021 Defense Department study confirmed that extremist groups were actively recruiting veterans and active-duty troops, drawn by the promise of weapons training and tactical knowledge.

Groups like Atomwaffen Division and Patriot Front took Metzger’s ghost skin playbook and militarized it. They didn’t just want ideology. They wanted skills.

Why? Because once embedded, these ghost skins gain:

• Access to surveillance databases.

• Weapons, armor, and tactical knowledge.

• Authority over communities of color.

• Legal power — to act, or to look away.

Metzger didn’t need a swastika. He needed a security clearance.

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The Infiltration Is Real: Metzger’s Ghost Skins Step Into Power

Tom Metzger is gone, but the people following his blueprint are not.

Matthew Gebert — State Department

From 2013 to 2019, Matthew Gebert served as a Foreign Affairs Officer at the U.S. Department of State, holding a Top Secret clearance.

He was also a covert white nationalist, podcast host, and organizer for the hate network The Right Stuff. Under the alias “Coach Finstock,” he praised fascism, hosted supremacist meetings, and pushed for racial separation, all while influencing U.S. foreign policy.

Law Enforcement: Metzger’s Foot Soldiers

• In Illinois, officers shared memes praising Hitler and remained on the job.

• In Virginia, cops with white supremacist tattoos operated for years.

• The Capitol riot investigation revealed at least 30 current or former officers involved, some of whom entered the building.

Military: Weaponized Obedience

• Lance Cpl. Vasillios Pistolis (Marines): Marched at Charlottesville. Member of Atomwaffen. Court-martialed.

• Jessica Watkins (Army): Oath Keeper, Capitol rioter, coordinated encrypted comms.

• Timothy Hale-Cusanelli (Navy contractor): Holocaust denier, Capitol rioter, held a military clearance.

Many of these individuals never met Metzger, but they followed his script.

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January 6 and the Fallout: Metzger’s War Comes Home

On January 6, 2021, Metzger’s ghosts came out of hiding.

They weren’t dressed like radicals. They were dressed like us — veterans, police officers, security personnel, and elected officials. And they marched not as outsiders, but as insiders.

• Thomas Robertson and Jacob Fracker, police officers, entered the Capitol and mocked democracy while off-duty.

• Dozens of military veterans, trained and disciplined, used encrypted apps to breach and occupy the building.

• Federal employees and off-duty officers waved the very flags they swore to uphold — in reverse.

Metzger didn’t need to storm the Capitol. His followers were already inside it.

“You don’t need an army if you already have insiders.” — Metzger

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A Long Game of Power, Not Protest

White supremacy isn’t fading; it’s evolving.

Today’s extremists don’t look like Metzger’s early foot soldiers. They look like public servants. The white nationalist movement has adopted entryism, the gradual, deliberate infiltration of power structures to shape society from within.

And Metzger made the plan clear:

• Blend in.

• Get trained.

• Rise in rank.

• Strike when the system trusts you most.

They don’t burn crosses. They write policy.
They don’t scream slurs. They enforce laws.

“Be patient. Infiltrate. When the time is right, you’ll know.”

And that time is here — not for them, but for us.

Conclusion & Call to Action: Metzger’s Ghosts Are Still With Us

Tom Metzger is dead.

However, the plan he laid out is still unfolding in our agencies, our courtrooms, and on our streets.

He didn’t need fame. He needed followers. And now they sit behind desks of power, hidden in plain sight, counting on your disbelief to protect them.

We’ve named the strategy. We’ve named the names. Now we must name the solution.

What Needs to Happen:

• Mandatory screening for extremist ties in military and police recruitment.

• Oversight and transparency in federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

• Independent investigations into white supremacist infiltration of government.

• Zero tolerance for hate disguised as policy.

Metzger told them to wait. He told them to rise. And they did.

Now it’s our time to confront, expose, and shut the door they kicked open.

• Bibliography:
  Southern Poverty Law Center. “Tom Metzger.” Extremist Files. Accessed July 2025.

• Federal Bureau of Investigation, Counterterrorism Division. “White Supremacist Infiltration of Law Enforcement.” October 17, 2006

• Hayden, Michael Edison. “White Nationalist State Department Official Still Active in Hate Movement.” Southern Poverty Law Center, January 30, 2020.

• “Matthew Q. Gebert.” Wikipedia, last updated May 2025.

• Savodnik, Peter. “How Could You Not Connect the Dots? Inside the Red‑Pilling of State Department Official Matthew Gebert.” Vanity Fair, February 11, 2020.

• Roll Call. “Pentagon Report Reveals Inroads White Supremacists Have Made in the U.S. Military.” February 16, 2021.

• “Former Neo‑Nazi Reveals White Supremacy in the US Military.” Business Insider, April 2021.

• CBS News. “Over 80 of Those Charged in the January 6 Investigation Are Current or Former Service Members.” March 2022.

• Seton Hall University. “A Demographic and Legal Profile of January 6 Prosecutions.” July 2023.

• ABC News. “Number of Capitol riot arrests of military, law enforcement and government personnel rises to 52.”

• The Guardian. “Fears over extremism in US military as soldier revealed as neo‑Nazi TikTok follower.” April 14, 2025.

• PBS NewsHour. “FBI Warned of White Supremacists in Law Enforcement 10 Years Ago.” September 2020.

• German, Mike. “White Supremacist Links to Law Enforcement Are an Urgent Concern.” Brennan Center for Justice, September 1, 2020.

• “Law Enforcement and the Problem of White Supremacy.” The New Yorker, February 27, 2021.

• U.S. Congress, House Committee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. “Statement by Rep. Jamie Raskin releasing FBI memorandum” September 29, 2020.