Who's ready for another edition of "This Week in Oklahoma Racism?"
Over the weekend, Colbert, Oklahoma's interim police chief – Bart Alsbrook – resigned after Texoma's KXII revealed he was the owner of an online business that sold neo-Nazi music, memorabilia and other racist stocking stuffers over the Internet.
When you consider that Colbert is located in Bryan county – the home to Oklahoma's most-egregious Confederate monument, and the same place where racists rolled out of the trailer park with Confederate flags to to greet President Obama – the news, sadly enough, isn't very surprising.
Here are the details via KXII:
There are questions surrounding the background of a newly appointed Texoma police chief after we found his name linked to websites that sell media and memorabilia aimed at skinheads and white nationalists.
Last week, the Southern Poverty Law Center released a hate mapfollowing the events in Charlottesville, Virginia.
That map identified only one group operating in Texoma - ISD Records, a website that sells racist media and memorabilia aimed at skinheads and white nationalists.
With a banner that reads "The Voice of Blood and Honour," an international coalition of racist skinhead gangs, ISD Records features artists like The Klansmen and album titles including "'Hitler was Right'".
We tracked down the certificate of ownership of ISD Records filed at the Grayson County Courthouse in 2004 with the signature of a Bart Alsbrook at a Denison address.
Colbert reserve police officer Bart Alsbrook was named interim chief this week.
We called Alsbrook about that application last week. He denied he was the Bart Alsbrook behind isdrecords.com.
We searched for another Bart Alsbrook and couldn't find another person with that name in the United States.
The site was taken offline within hours of that conversation.
Before you begin with the well-deserved public shaming, we should note that Bart Alsbrook is denying he's the same Bart Alsbrook who owned and operated the site. Even though there appears to be only one Bart Alsbrook alive on the planet – and despite the fact that 97% of the world's scientists agree that most Barts are racist – he claims the whole thing is just your typical case of mistaken identity, and part of a broader character assassination attempt orchestrated by a gang of vindictive skinheads who get into fights at heavy metal concerts.
At least that's what he told The Tulsa World...
Bart Alsbrook, who was a reserve officer before being named interim Colbert police chief Tuesday, denied the allegations, and said his name was linked to the websites through vindictive skinheads he’d met at heavy metal concerts.
He later said the allegations have ruined his life and that he plans to resign as interim chief and won’t continue as a reserve officer. Alsbrook responded to the Tulsa World by text messages Saturday.
“Someone has been using my name for years on the Internet in regards to racist topics. It’s not me, rather someone who has hijacked my name due to my combativeness and rejection to white power skinheads who were always coming to the heavy metal shows, starting fights and messing up our scene,” he said.
Alsbrook said neo-Nazis in Dallas have been using his name since the mid-90s...
When asked if he plans to seek legal action against the individuals purportedly using his name, Alsbrook said “wish I could.” He later added reports of his connections to the racist groups put his family in danger.
On a positive note, at least he blamed a rival gang of skinheads for creating the site instead of Jews, blacks or some other minority or ethnic group. I guess progress is progress. Maybe motorcycle gangs will be next.
Anyway, I guess this concludes this edition of "This Week in Oklahoma Racism." I would say check us out next week, but knowing how things work around this state, we'll probably have another article up tomorrow.
