Neo-Nazi Craig Paul Cobb, 61, has been buying up property in Leith, North Dakota to convert the town of 19 people into a bastion of white supremacy dubbed Cobbsville.

Residents would be required to fly a “racialist banner” such as Neo-Nazi flag at all times and to “import more responsible radical hard core [white nationalists].”

In a post he on the Vanguard News Network forum Cobb wrote: “Imagine strolling over to your neighbors to discuss world politics with nearly all like-minded volk. Imagine the international publicity and usefulness to our cause! For starters, we could declare a Mexican illegal invaders and Israeli Mossad/IDF spies no-go zone. If leftist journalists or antis come and try to make trouble, they just might break one of our local ordinances and would have to be arrested by our town constable. See?”

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Cobb had been living in Estonia but was deported to Canada where he was arrested in 2010 on charges of promoting hatred. He fled to the U.S.

“Cobb is the most hardcore white supremacist anti-Semite you can have,” Heidi Beirich, director of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project, told MSN News. “What he’s doing up there is extremely serious in the world of white supremacists because he’s making happen what a lot of these guys only dream about. He’s buying property and giving it to other white supremacists and he’s gotten some very prominent white supremacists to buy land up there.”

Residents of the community are concerned but as of the moment not taking any action against Cobb. “As of now we’re just kind of waiting. The guy has done nothing wrong. There’s not a lot that we can do except wait and see if he’s going to pursue this,” Mayor Ryan Schock, told MSN News.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount