The neo-Nazi who wants to turn Maine into a white ethnostate posted a statement online saying he sold his 10.6 acres in Springfield in reaction to public pressure.
Christopher Pohlhaus, founder of Blood Tribe, one of the fastest growing white supremacy groups in the nation, reported that after a Bangor Daily News article revealed the exact location of his Moores Road property it was too dangerous to fulfill its purpose. He and his partner sold the property to a Massachusetts man for $39,000 on Oct. 20, according to Maine Multiple Listing Service.
For months, Pohlhaus posted on Telegram, an encrypted message board popular with white supremacists, that he was building an alleged compound and training ground for Blood Tribe soldiers. In near daily posts, he called on other men to join him in Springfield for grueling physical fitness and weapons training.
Pohlhaus’ Springfield project is an example of organized extremism taking root in Maine. And when the news of his intentions spread, Maine legislators, local businesses, government officials and Mainers throughout the state stood up to his virulent proclamations and news media regularly reported on his continued progress.
“With the militant leftist doxing the location, it was basically too dangerous for families to make the transition up here,” Pohlhaus said in a Telegram post on Tuesday in reaction to the Bangor Daily News article about the property sale. “People were coming up there all the time, snooping and getting very brazen, even driving down into the clearing.”
Sen. Joe Baldacci, one of the more vocal Maine legislators trying to rid the state of purveyors of hate like Pohlhaus, said on Tuesday that the sale would not have happened without such a strong public outcry in response to Pohlhaus’ plans.
“I think we need to monitor him and other hate groups because some still exist in the state, but it shows what good people working together can do,” Baldacci said. “The pressure forced him to know there was going to be a high price for him to pay for bringing this kind of hate to the State of Maine.”
Pohlhaus said his biggest loss was all the time he put into the property to turn it into a neo-Nazi training ground and home to white supremacists transitioning into life in Maine. Still, it was just not worth the lingering risk, he said.
Although many locals hope the Oct. 20 sale means Pohlhaus has moved out of Maine, he said the Springfield property was the movement’s smallest plot in Maine and not a big loss to their initiative.
The locations of other Pohlhaus and neo-Nazi owned properties have not been revealed, but there are unconfirmed locations in Northern Penobscot and Aroostook Counties near Lee, Patten and Reed Plantation.
According to Pohlhaus, the biggest lesson he learned was to never put a property in his name again.
“I knew it was a risk at the time, but really, I just wanted to get moving up here, and it was the best approach for me,” he said about putting his name on the Springfield property deed along with co-owner Fred Boyd Ramey. “We didn’t have our other plots here then.”
Regarding his recent property sale, he said it could be called a “leftist win,” but it’s not slowing them down at all.
