White nationalists in Arkansas are accused of luring a man to a home through a dating app.

When he arrived, they threatened and beat him, saying he was trying to meet a minor.

The extremists' group had planned a protest at Knox PrideFest, but did not have a large turnout.

Some of the group's members have Knoxville ties through extremist networks.

Three white nationalists whose organization planned to protest Knox PrideFest were arrested days before the event on charges they assaulted a man they lured to an Arkansas home through the LGBTQ dating app Grindr.

Julian Calfy, 23, John Carollo, 28, and Nicholas Holloway, 20, each face felony charges of second-degree battery in connection with the June 20 attack. The three men have been identified as members of an Arkansas-based neo-Nazi group.

What happened in Atkins?

The arrests came after Calfy called 911 and claimed the trio had caught a man in a vigilante child-predator sting, according to an incident report from the sheriff's office in Pope County, Arkansas.

Holloway told deputies he posed as a 15-year-old boy on Grindr to lure the man to a home in the small town of Atkins, the report states.

The victim, who also called 911, told deputies the three men pulled him from his car, forced him to the ground, beat him and put a gun to his head before allowing him to leave, according to the report. As he drove away, the men damaged his windshield.

An investigator later testified at a bond hearing that the victim had a cut on his chest and a "knot on his head the size of a golf ball," local newspaper The Courier reported.

It's unclear whether police believe the trio's story that the man was trying to meet with a 15-year-old boy. The incident report does not elaborate, and Pope County Sheriff's Office Lt. Jacob Yarbrough said Friday the agency would not comment due to an ongoing investigation.

Investigators obtained a search warrant for the home on State Highway 105 North. Records showing the results of that search weren't publicly available Friday.

Arrests and protests

Calfy, Carollo, Holloway were booked into the Pope County jail, where they remained June 22 while some 6,000 people celebrated the LGBTQ community nearly 600 miles away in Knoxville.

"Allies and affiliates" of the Arkansas-based neo-Nazi group, led by Kynan Dutton, had planned to hold a "bold but peaceful demonstration" against PrideFest, the group's leader, Billy Roper, wrote on social media ahead of the event. The extremist group, formed in 2017, promotes racist and anti-Semitic rhetoric, and its members aspire to build a white ethno-state, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

Dutton was one of about 10 protesters who showed up to PrideFest this year. He also protested the event last year, when he was arrested for shoving a man to the ground.

More:White nationalist arrested at Knox Pridefest once helped try to take over North Dakota town

Dutton isn't the only one with Knoxville ties. Carollo, who often uses the first name Johan, is a former member of the Traditionalist Worker Party, a neo-Nazi outfit that protested events in Knoxville from 2017 to 2018 before the group collapsed when a bizarre love triangle led to its leader's arrest on battery charges in Kentucky.

Carollo and Holloway each were released from jail after making bond, which had been set at $50,000 apiece. Calfy, who was reportedly convicted years ago of planning an attack on his high school, remained jailed Friday after he was charged with violating his parole.

Reach Travis Dorman at travis.dorman@knoxnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @travdorman.