Florida teens tied to ‘2119’ neo-Nazi gang to plead guilty for antisemitic attacks
Three teenagers associated with the neo-Nazi gang 2119 have agreed to plead guilty to felony hate crime charges related to an antisemitic vandalism spree last summer that included attacks on two synagogues and a mosque in Pensacola, Fla.
Lawyers for the three defendants appeared in court this morning and indicated their clients would plead guilty to the charges, Assistant State Attorney Andrew McGraw told Raw Story.
“The offer that is in front of them is to go to trial, or plead guilty and go to sentencing,” McGraw said.
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The Pensacola News Journal reported that lawyers for the three teenagers told Judge John Jay Gontarek that their clients are ready to plead guilty.
The lawyers could not be reached by Raw Story for comment prior to publication, but a hearing worksheet for one of the defendants — filed in court today — indicates that a judicial assistant will coordinate and submit a date for the guilty plea to be taken.
Waylon Fowler, 17, the reputed local ringleader of the group, is charged with 10 felonies, while Kessler Ferry, 19, and Nicholas Ferry, 17, are each respectively charged with two and five felonies.
Of the three, McGraw said, Waylon Fowler faces the longest sentence.
Wyatt Fowler, Waylon’s younger brother, was also charged, but his case was adjudicated through juvenile court.
Breeding hate
The vandalism spree allegedly carried out by the four teenagers last summer was at the center of a nationwide online radicalization and harassment campaign exposed in an investigative series published by Raw Story in February.
Led by Waylon Fowler, the Pensacola members of 2119 — also known as Blood and Soil Crew — participated in an online effort to instill hate in white boys and instigate them to carry out acts of vandalism, extremist propaganda and harassment against Jews, LGBTQ+ people, African Americans and other marginalized groups. Attacks carried out in the group’s name in New Hampshire and North Carolina remain unsolved.
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According to court documents, Waylon Fowler hurled a brick through a window at Chabad Jewish Center in Pensacola as two rabbis were sitting down to eat dinner. The brick, which was inscribed in Sharpie with a swastika and the words “No Jews,” came to be embraced as a totem of power by 2119 members and their supporters in Nazi social media chats.
In addition to two synagogues, the teenagers are accused of vandalizing a mosque and a Masonic lodge in late July and early August of 2023. Spray-painted swastikas also appeared on a socialist community center in Pensacola during the same time period, although no one was charged in the incident.
Fowler was hailed as a martyr in the chats, where his image was accompanied by the hashtag #FreeWaylon, while other members gleefully described themselves as “brickstas.”
When Waylon Fowler was released on bond last September, one 2119 member celebrated the fact that the FBI didn’t bring federal charges against him.
The tactic of using bricks to carry out antisemitic attacks became a topic of debate about the degree of risk Nazi hooligans should assume in committing criminal acts.
“Sounds like you fear the brick,” a 2119 member named Aiden Cuevas chided David Fair, leader of the allied Southern Sons Active Club, in one of the chats.
“I’m angry at the brick bc it got good boys put behind bars,” Fair replied.
“It rooted out the weak,” Cuevas shot back. “The others are out and will get thru it ez.”
In Fowler’s case, a brick he allegedly used to sow hate was ultimately used against him and his 2119 associates: The brick bore the initials “R.W.B.” — short for “Revolutionary White Brotherhood,” which was the previous name used by 2119.