Black Hammer Party facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Black Hammer Party
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| Leader | Augustus Cornelius Romain Jr. (a.k.a. Gazi Kodzo) |
| Founded | 2019 |
| Headquarters | Atlanta, Georgia |
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The Black Hammer Party (once called the Black Hammer Organization) is an American political group. It was started in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2019. The group says it is a "symbol of hope for the colonized working class." They became well-known in the early 2020s during the George Floyd protests. They also tried to create a special community in the Rocky Mountains called "Hammer City."
Some people have described the group as mixing ideas about Black people's independence with calls for big changes. They also talked about topics like not trusting vaccines and ideas about the 2020 election. Some people, including those who used to be part of the group, have said it acted like a group that controlled its members too much.
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About the Black Hammer Party
The Black Hammer Organization started in 2019 in Atlanta. It was founded by a few activists who had been involved in Black and communist groups. By 2020, more people joined the group. This happened after the murder of George Floyd and the protests across the United States. The group grew to have "hundreds" of members and many local groups.
The Black Hammer Party called for a revolution led by Black and Native American people. They wanted a separate homeland for these groups. They also asked for reparations (payments) from white "colonizers." Some news reports said the group's ideas were against white people and Jewish people.
Gazi Kodzo (born Augustus Cornelius Romain Jr.) became the leader of the group. A former member said that under Kodzo, the group changed. It went from being a group for freedom to one that was harmful. Other former members said Kodzo made them work very hard. They also said he tried to control their personal lives.
Kodzo is known for what he posts on social media. In 2021, he shared a video where he made offensive comments about Holocaust victim Anne Frank. He also said he would burn copies of her diary. Around August 2021, fewer people were joining the group. This was partly because another group accused Black Hammer of trying to cause trouble.
Under Kodzo's leadership, the group also spoke out against COVID-19 vaccines. In September 2021, they protested outside the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. They supported rapper Nicki Minaj, who had said she was not vaccinated. In December of the same year, Kodzo said he had teamed up with another political group called the Proud Boys. He also made a podcast with the Proud Boys' founder, Gavin McInnes. They said they were forming a group to fight against certain political ideas and big medicine companies. The Black Hammer Party also started to distance itself from Black Lives Matter.
Hammer City Project
On May 3, 2021, the group announced they had "liberated" 200 acres of land. This land was in Colorado, later known as Beaver Pines in San Miguel County, Colorado. They had raised over US$60,000 in donations, which later reached $112,000. They called this land "Hammer City." They said on Facebook that the soil was "rich." They also said that "colonized people need their own land, their own space, their own ways of making things [...]."
However, the group missed a deadline to sign the papers for the land on May 14. On May 17, there were reports that group members were still staying on the land. They were carrying firearms and wearing military gear. After a short standoff with a local person, police deputies escorted the group off the property that evening. The local Sheriff later checked the property. They found an unfinished footbridge, a real estate sign with bullet holes, and screws scattered on the road.
Police Action in Fayetteville
On July 19, 2022, police in Fayetteville, Georgia received a call. Someone said they were being held against their will in a house rented by the Black Hammer Party. A SWAT team went to search the home. There were ten people inside. Nine people left willingly. An 18-year-old man named Amonte T. Ammons died.
Gazi Kodzo was arrested and faced charges. Another man, Xavier H. Rushin, was also arrested.
Russian Connections
On July 29, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice shared information. It was about alleged Russian influence operations that involved American political groups. The Black Hammer Party was one of the groups mentioned in these activities. This was reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and PCMag.
These reports said that the Black Hammer Party had received money from a Russian citizen named Aleksandr Viktorovich Ionov. This person had connections to the Russian government. This money was supposedly used to fund the group's protest at the headquarters of Meta Platforms. Meta Platforms is the company that owns Facebook. The protest was because Facebook had removed posts that supported the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The information also suggested that the groups involved might have received "direction or control" from the FSB (a Russian security agency) through Ionov.
Images for kids
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Black Hammer Party logo
