It’s not immediately clear that Jared Lee Loughner is a member of American Renaissance. DHS probes ties to hate group

The feds are reportedly probing whether shooting suspect Jared Lee Loughner has ties to what they describe as an anti-Semitic, anti-government hate group that has ads for tea party organizations on its website.

A Department of Homeland Security memo quoted by Fox News said the agency is looking into whether Loughner is “possibly linked” to the fanatical group American Renaissance.


The group promotes views that are “anti-government, anti-immigration, anti-ZOG (Zionist Occupation Government), anti-Semitic,” the memo said.

It’s not immediately clear that Loughner is actually a member.

Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, the target of Loughner’s firing frenzy, is “the first Jewish female elected to such a high position in the U.S. government. She was also opposite the group’s ideology when it came to immigration debate,” according to the memo.

The group’s website features what appear to be paid advertisements for tea party versions of the “Don’t tread on me” flag.

Jared Taylor, editor of American Renaissance, made clear in an interview with Fox News that the group considers itself a think tank of sorts, with a conservative circular that’s available by subscription.

Asked about the memo, he said, “That is complete nonsense. I have absolutely no idea what DHS is talking about.”

He told the cable channel that his group checked subscriber lists for its circular and found no record of Loughner subscribing or attending events.

Later Sunday, Taylor posted this statement on the American Renaissance website, in which he strongly pushed back on any suggestion of a nexus to the Giffords attack and said Fox News has since reported the memo was actually from a local law enforcement agency. That outfit may have gotten information from DHS, he wrote.

“American Renaissance condemns violence in the strongest possible terms, and nothing that has ever appeared in it pages could be interpreted as countenancing it,” he wrote.

“AR is not anti-government, anti-Semitic or anti-ZOG, as is clear from the 20 years of back issues that are posted on our website. The expression ‘ZOG’ has never appeared in the pages of AR, and we have has always welcomed Jewish participation in our work. Many of the speakers at American Renaissance conferences have been Jewish.

“Although the name Gabrielle Giffords has appeared in news articles we have excerpted on our website, AR itself has never mentioned her and has certainly never criticized her policies,” he added, concluding: “If this memo is typical of the research done by the Department of Homeland Security, our country is in serious danger.”

Mark Potok, director of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project, described American Renaissance’s journal as a “kind of white-collar, white supremacists outlet, better described as white nationalists,” that is read by “pseudo intellectuals” and “academic racists.”

He said the group focuses on race and IQ issues, specifically that African-Americans are not as intelligent as whites.

The group had a debate about whether it should also concentrate on Jews, but the majority “was not into that,” Potok said.

“Jared Taylor is not an anti-Semite,” Potok said.