Hey! That's me!
The crux of the Frank affidavit is "RA didn't do it, these racist evil Odinites did!"
Why does Odinism have ties to racism? That is a long long long answer but the very high level is due to 18th-20th century European nationalism movements using Norse/Germanic myths and trappings to inspire unity. This was eventually shaped into a religion by a man named Guido von List around 1905. His group "The List Society" was the largest influence for occultism on the Nazi party.
Else Christensen was a Nazi. I have copies of her writings where she debates David Duke on what the proper religion of the "white race." She, like most hard core racist Odinists, chose their religion to match their hate.
If you want a deep dive I suggest the book Gods of the Blood or I will shamelessly plug my own work - Heathen History Podcast
In his 10/10/2023 affidavit, the warden, John Galipeau says:
“5. That Correctional Officers at Westville Correctional Facility were allowed to wear any patches on their vests until the allegations made by the Defense in their motion.
6. That Westville Correctional Facility offers religious services if there are at least 5 individuals that practice the religion in the complex and to date we have not had more than 5 individuals in the complex request to hold services related to Odinism.
13. That I do not have an agenda or a vested interest in keeping the Defendant incarcerated in a facility that is ripe with connections to Odinism.
14. That Westville Correctional facility has very few inmates that practice Odinism.”
In his 10/10/203 affidavit, Sgt Jones says:
“4. That I do not practice Odinism and that Norse Paganism Heathenry is my practicing religion.
5. That I do wear patches on my uniform that identify me as someone who practices
Norse Paganism Heathenry.
6 That I started wearing the patches 6 or 7 months ago and I did not stop wearing my patches until September 22, 2023, when ordered by my command to remove the patches.”
Do you think the confusion might be due to conflation of Norse Pagan Heathenry and Odinism? Is it possible that while practitioners would likely know the difference, those who aren’t practitioners might see them as the same thing (like the warden, the defense)?
(I don’t associate any religion with criminal activity. I believe criminals are within all religions/groups and exploit whatever is convenient for them at the time. JMO.)
I have heard that the group o9A (Order of the Nine Angles) sometimes use Nordic runes in their rituals-do you know if this is true? I found this interesting bc my Norse friend said Odinism is a corruption of real Norse paganism and “more like Hollywood Satanism” and above you said “
Odinists are not unlike the Satanic Temple - they use the color of religion to achieve their own ends.” Since o9A has connections to the neo-Nazi groups Atomwaffen Division, The Base, Combat 18, National Action, and the Nordic Resistant Movement, is it possible,
if there were Nordic runes at the CS, and
if there was a group involved, that the perps could have had connections to a group like o9a instead of Norse Paganism/Odinism? I understand the how observation of a potential F rune on the tree/a potential Nordic rune at the CS might lead to Norse paganism, but I still don’t understand where the white supremacist angle came from in the media…unless they are just associating Norse paganism with white supremacy? TIA!
AJMO
EDIT: typo
Sources:
John Galipeau (warden) Affidavit 10/10/2023
Scanned Document | PDF Host
CO Jones Affidavit 10/10/2023
Scanned Document | PDF Host
Order of the Nine Angles (Wikipedia)
en.m.wikipedia.org