And they say good manners are dead!
This past week our editor gave us a tall order: to go find a normal, everyday-seeming Neo Nazi in the American heartland, and write an incisive expose revealing how fascism is becoming normalized in America. And it’s turned into an extra-tall order, considering the amount of online backlash we’ve received for giving an avowed Neo nazi a national platform to espouse his white supremacist views unchallenged.
Perhaps it would help if we explained how our controversial Neo Nazi profile came together. Admittedly, yours truly wasn’t even sure where to begin. I haven’t left New York City in over 15 years, and there’s certainly no white supremacists at Magnolia Bakery (or perhaps there are, I’ve never asked). But luckily fate stepped in when I was doing research online, on a weather website dedicated to daily storms. Just as I was about to give up, a debonair young nazi reached out and offered to not only be the subject of my profile, but to do all the writing himself!
What a mensch!!!
Trey Heiter may come from the American far right, but he’s right down the middle when it comes to politeness. He lives at 88 Reichstag Lane, in Harbor Heights, Ohio, where he enjoys such normal activities as watching Seinfeld, marching, and apparently writing profiles of himself that rack of millions of hits in a weekend! For such an average looking guy, that’s pretty impressive!
There was so much that Trey taught me in the profile of himself that he ended up writing all of. For example, he prefers to be called a “cool dude with fun tattoos” as opposed to “an actual Nazi”. Who knew? Early on I tried to ask Trey a couple of questions, like “why do you keep using the term ‘The Jew’ in conversation” and “what’s this ‘Phase 2’ you keep mentioning?” But Trey told me to relax, offered me a home baked cookie, and put on another Seinfeld rerun.
“No soup for you!” Haha, classic!
As I mentioned before, a lot of people online were angry about the profile that Trey lovingly wrote about himself. They said that it “normalized his reprehensible beliefs” and “irresponsibly gave a platform to literal fascists!” But you know who isn’t quite so grumbly? Trey. He actually thanked me for helping him to “get my message out there”. Like I keep saying, Trey my man – you did all the work!
Long story short, the profile of Trey that he meticulously crafted and submitted to my editor decidedly make him sound like your average hard working American Joe. He’s got four cats, loves his white wife, and just wants a little space to hate in peace.
He would also prefer if that space didn’t have any Blacks, Jews, gays, or feminists in it, but I guess he must have forgotten to include that part in the profile he wrote.
Welp, nobody’s perfect!
