Blaze Bernstein Murder Suspect Belonged To Neo-Nazi Group

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky

By Dan Friedman January 28, 2018

Samuel Woodward, the high school classmate accused of murdering Blaze Bernstein, was an avowed member of the American neo-Nazi group “Atomwaffen Division,” according to a new report by ProPublica.

The group, whose name is German for “Atomic Weapons Division,” is “an armed Fascist group with the ultimate aim of overthrowing the U.S. government through the use of terrorism and guerrilla warfare.” Woodward attended a three-day training session with the group in Texas, shedding light on his apparent reenactment of a grisly neo-Nazi killing scene in the 1998 movie, “American History X.”

Police believe that it was Woodward who stabbed Bernstein more than 20 times on January 3 before burying him in a shallow grave in Borrego Park. He referred to [Bernstein, by an anti-gay slur and told police Bernstein had kissed him.

The group, who have “filmed themselves burning the U.S. Constitution and setting fire to the American flag” have also been linked to other murders, most notably the shooting of Scott Fricker and Buckley Kuhn-Fricker who were shot by their daughter’s boyfriend.