Anonymous Demonstrators Who Waved Nazi Flags in Nashville Are Connected to ‘Boneface’ Provocateur Who Claimed to Fight with Neo-Nazi Battalion in Ukraine

A group of masked, anonymous demonstrators who waved Nazi flags at the Tennessee State Capitol in Nashville on Saturday are apparently part of the same Blood Tribe neo-Nazi group as Kent “Boneface” McLellan, the American neo-Nazi who gained notoriety in 2023 after he claimed to fight alongside a Ukrainian military unit that regularly uses fascist imagery and is accused of harboring neo-Nazi views.

Media reports suggest the group of individuals who were holding Nazi flags in the viral video recorded by Representative Justin Jones (D-Nashville) on Saturday are affiliated with the Blood Tribe, which the Anti-Defamation League explains is a “growing neo-Nazi group” that purportedly has chapters in the United States and Canada.

The Blood Tribe last made headlines last September, when a selection of members that included McLellan protested outside Disney World, ostensibly in support of measures taken by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis against the woke corporation.

Shortly after appearance at the protest in Florida, it was revealed that McLellan, who has covered his entire face and upper body in racist and neo-Nazi tattoos, claimed to have volunteered to fight in Ukraine alongside the controversial Azov Battalion during its bloody defense of Mariupol in 2022.

McLellan’s record of foreign service remains unconfirmed, as Bellingcat later claimed to place him in Florida during the period he was purportedly fighting in Ukraine.

Members of the neo-Nazi group, including its founder Christopher Pohlhaus, confirmed the group’s affiliation with McLellan, but suggested he is no longer in “good standing” with the Blood Tribe.

While McLellan’s ties to Ukraine remain unconfirmed, Pohlhaus declared on camera last year, “I think Biden’s better than Trump ’cause he sends rockets to Ukraine” before adding, “Heil Ukraine!”

The news that McLellan was no longer in “good standing” with the Blood Tribe came after reporter and former U.S. House candidate Laura Loomer released police body camera video from a Escambria County, Florida deputy who detained McLellan.

In the recording, the deputy appears to confirm his name is listed in the police and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) databases as a “terrorist organization member” who is “armed, dangerous” and harbors “violent tendencies.”

Additionally, McLellan is observed telling the deputy he “just got back from Ukraine,” and the deputy later remarked, “I’ve never seen this before… They have Border Patrol’s number on this.”

The link between the Blood Tribe and those in attendance at the Nashville neo-Nazi rally comes as a growing number of conservatives question the motives of the protesters.

“Gotta keep up the fear of domestic terrorism to justify hunting Republicans,” wrote cartoonist and author Scott Adams on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Chinese-American author Xi Van Fleet shared the sentiments in her own post, declaring the protesters “are hired actors safely hiding behind their masks” who went to Nashville “to convince people that white supremacy is rampant and MAGA is to blame.”

“Nazi (National Socialist German Workers’ Party) is a party of radical leftists, not much different from the DSA (Democratic Socialists of America),” Van Fleet added.

The Tennessee Faith and Freedom Coalition pledged to stand in solidarity with Jewish Tennesseans.

“As we previously condemned antisemitism [and] the Nazis amongst Gabrielle Hanson supporters in Franklin as well as the Marxist Pro-Hamas crowd in the Democrat Party, we utterly condemn those Joe Biden supporters marching under Nazi flags downtown yesterday,” the conservative group posted to X.

The group added, “Antisemitism has no place in society. We continue to stand with our Jewish brothers [and] sisters against it.”

Nashville radio host Matt Murphy noted on X the universal condemnation those harboring neo-Nazi views receive from members of the Tennessee Republican Party, calling Representative Justin Pearson (R-Memphis) to account for associating the display with Republicans.

“I know of no one in the TNGOP that has done anything other than condemn this gross, disrespectful, evil display,” wrote Murphy.

The SuperTalk 99.7 WTN host continued, “Pearson attempting to tie this to his colleagues and his claim that members of the House is not only disrespectful and shameful, it is also dangerous.”

In addition to its alleged links to Ukraine and overt affinity for the country, Blood Tribe founder Pohlhaus last summer boasted of his plans to travel to Ukraine and work as a “liaison” between neo-Nazis in the “anglosphere” and Ukraine.

“I will be going personally with a squad of mostly vets who have committed to the task,” reportedly claimed Pohlhaus, who himself is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, in a social media post. He later wrote, “We see the glorious opportunity in this conflict,” and elaborated, “Because the American military is staying out of it, we get the chance to participate [under] OUR banner.”

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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Image “Masked Demonstrators” by JoshuaPHilll.