Court Filings Reveal Evidence of White Supremacist Activity Among Guards at Westville CF

Recent court filings by the attorneys for Richard Allen, accused of the Delphi murders, who is being held in IDOC custody, provide evidence of guards involved in white supremacist organizing, or at the very least, ideologically aligned with a white supremacist belief system called Odinism. Odinism has deep roots in Indiana going back to the early 2000s when a hardcore racist skinhead gang in Indiana, the Vinlanders Social Club, grew large and famous enough to attract national attention and concern. Though that group has largely died out, the ideology remains entrenched among guards in Indiana prisons, through white supremacist gangs the Aryan Brotherhood and the Saxon Knights. Allen’s defense attorneys seem to think other law enforcement forces in the state may be infiltrated by Odinists and that they may have obstructed investigations into the Delphi murders for which their client is the principal suspect; the attorneys allege that the gruesome killings were part of an Odinist ritual based on crime scene evidence. In recent court filings, they allege that Odinist guards at Westville CF - and likely also Wabash Valley CF - are obstructing Allen’s defense and abusing him while in pre-trial custody in the state prisons.

This evidence of Odinism among IDOC guards is only the most recent example of white supremacist organizing among IDOC guards, staff, and officials. There is a long history of such organizing activity that has never been seriously investigated or addressed by government authorities, most notably with the Aryan Brotherhood at Putnamville CF in the late 80s and 90s, and the Sons of Light in the 80s at Pendleton CF. In neither case was anyone accused of participating violent white supremacist activities held accountable for such, despite clear evidence and considerable documentation.

The State of Indiana and the Indiana Department of Correction have always covered up and attempted to minimize the significance of allowing avowed, ideological racists to hold positions of power and near-immunity from prosecution over incarcerated people, a disproportionate number of whom are Black or Brown due to the racism baked into policing and prosecution. The significance is not lost on us, however: we have no doubt that these fascists are involved in many of the illegal beatings, killings, and other forms of abuse perpetrated constantly by guards against prisoners, and that they promote a culture of racial hatred and violence within the prisons. With that in mind, we renew our long-standing demand for a full Department of Justice investigation of state-sanctioned white supremacist organizing among IDOC staff and officials!