Authorities Arrest Suspected White Supremacists

abc7.com/November 19, 2002

Santa Ana -- A Port of Los Angeles security guard described as a neo- Nazi leader and an Orange County woman accused of stockpiling bomb-making materials were arrested today, authorities said.

John Frederick Steele, 29, leader of the "Brandenburg Division" of the Aryan Nations, was arrested on charges of filing false documents, weapons violations and perjury, said Deputy District Attorney Nick Thompson.

"Mr. Steele is a security guard at the L.A. harbor port. And, obviously, given the concern with both international and domestic terrorism on that front, (and) with the potential for incoming weapons, we felt that that might be a security breach," Thompson said.

Christine Greenwood, 28, was taken into custody for allegedly possessing bomb-making materials seized two years ago from the Anaheim home she shared with boyfriend John Patrick McCabe.

Among the other items allegedly seized were BBs, nails and razor blades, which authorities said can be used as shrapnel.

Greenwood was not arrested two years ago, Thompson said, and that might have been a mistake.

Authorities believed McCabe was the real threat, and investigators apparently focused more on the child pornography aspects of the case -- since it was before Sept. 11, 2001, Thompson said.

"Part of the problem is the age of this offense," Thompson said. "It's a significant concern for me. But it had to be filed or ignored, and my concern is, there's a clear crime here, perpetrated by both of them that was, frankly, missed."

Greenwood, tattooed heavily on her left arm and standing in front of a Nazi flag in a photograph that agents distibuted, is involved with Women for Aryan Unity, prosecutors said.

The group of wives and girlfriends formed the organization to assist their men, and to carry on should they fall, prosecutors said.

McCabe, arrested for violating probation and possessing child pornography, was due to be released in a couple of months, but also is named in the new charges.

Jeanette Phillips, manager of Greenwood's apartment in Anaheim, said the woman has been "harassed" before.

"I don't know, probably ... three different times," she told ABC7. "They've had warrants, they wanted in, I had to let them in, and none of those times have they ever found anything to do with a bomb."

There is no evidence of a formal link between Steele and Greenwood, Thompson said. But their names came up in investigations by a task force charged with "keeping an eye" on domestic terrorism groups, Orange County District Attorney Anthony Rackauckas said.

Authorities said Steele organized a celebration of Hitler's birthday on April 20. The event was canceled when Steele -- on probation for assault with a deadly weapon -- faced a probation violation for possessing Nazi paraphernalia, said Joyce Greenspan of the Anti-Defamation League of the Orange County/Long Beach region.

Steele also has ties to a number of skinhead groups in Southern California, prosecutors said.

Authorities displayed hundreds of pieces of Nazi artifacts allegedly seized from Steele's home, including Nazi uniforms and pictures of Hitler and hate literature.

Investigators also found writings they interpreted as sympathetic to Islamic terrorist groups and anti-Semitic feelings, authorities said.

Both Greenwood and Steele are expected to be arraigned Wednesday, Thompson said.