Devon Arthurs
Devon Arthurs was an Atomwaffen Division member who converted to Islam and in May 2017 murdered two fellow AWD members in their shared Tampa apartment, an act that directly triggered Brandon Russell's arrest and AWD's national exposure.
Devon Arthurs was a member of Atomwaffen Division who converted to Islam, then on May 19, 2017 killed his two AWD roommates, Jeremy Himmelman and Andrew Oneschuk, at the apartment they shared in Tampa, Florida with Brandon Russell. The killings and Arthurs's subsequent cooperation with law enforcement constituted the first major public exposure of AWD as an operational organization, resulted in Russell's arrest for possession of explosive materials, and triggered the sustained law enforcement attention that would disrupt the organization over the following years.
Conversion and Departure from AWD
Arthurs had been a committed AWD member and a participant in the organization's accelerationist ideology before converting to Islam at some point in 2016 or early 2017. His conversion generated conflict within the apartment with Himmelman and Oneschuk, who remained committed neo-Nazis. Arthurs later told investigators that the two men had desecrated a Quran he kept in the apartment, and that he had also come to fear they would expose his prior AWD membership to others, a threat to his safety he believed required a preemptive response.1
Murders and Hostage Standoff
On the afternoon of May 19, 2017, while Russell was away at a Florida National Guard training exercise, Arthurs shot and killed both Himmelman (22) and Oneschuk (18) inside the Tampa apartment. After the killings, rather than fleeing, Arthurs drove to a nearby smoke shop and held customers at gunpoint inside the store while he attempted to reach a religious leader by phone. He made statements to the hostages about wanting to speak with a Muslim contact and about the crimes he had committed.
Tampa police responded to the hostage situation and Arthurs surrendered peacefully after a standoff lasting approximately an hour. He was arrested without further violence.1
Investigation, Russell's Exposure, and AWD Military Warnings
After Arthurs was taken into custody and began cooperating with investigators, Tampa police and the FBI searched the apartment. The search revealed explosive materials belonging to Russell, specifically precursor chemicals and components used in the manufacture of HMTD (hexamethylene triperoxide diamine). Investigators also recovered AWD propaganda materials, membership lists, and other organizational documents.
Russell returned from his National Guard training to find law enforcement at the apartment and was subsequently arrested on explosives charges. Arthurs's cooperation directly enabled this arrest and provided investigators with their first detailed inside look at AWD's structure, membership, and activities.1
During his police interrogation, Arthurs told detectives that Atomwaffen Division "had attracted U.S. military personnel as members and was aiming to recruit more." He specifically identified Russell as having joined the Florida Army National Guard with deliberate strategic intent, stating that Russell "joined specifically for the knowledge and the training, and he wants to use that training against the government." Russell served in Company C, 53rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 53rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, based in Pinellas Park, Florida. Arthurs warned that AWD members "join the military specially to get training. To get access to equipment."2
The Florida Guard Non-Response
The Florida Guard conducted a two-page summary investigation within three weeks of the Tampa murders. ProPublica and PBS Frontline's 2018 investigation, based on a review of that document, found that it "contains no references to Arthurs's statements to authorities about other possible Atomwaffen members in the military" and showed "no evidence that the Guard had alerted officials in other military branches to the potential presence of Atomwaffen in their ranks." Russell had announced the creation of Atomwaffen Division on Iron March in October 2015, months before he enlisted in the Guard in February 2016; during the Guard's recruitment vetting, a radiation trefoil tattoo on his neck was documented but did not trigger further inquiry. The FBI declined repeated requests to discuss the case and what steps it took in response.2
Legal Outcome
Arthurs pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and was sentenced to a lengthy prison term in Florida state court. His cooperation with federal investigators as part of plea negotiations produced information that fed into multiple subsequent federal prosecutions of AWD members.3
Sources
- ProPublica / PBS Frontline. "Armed and Dangerous." 2018. https://www.propublica.org/article/atomwaffen-division-armed-and-dangerous ↩
- ProPublica / PBS Frontline. "An Atomwaffen Member Sketched a Map to Take the Neo-Nazis Down. What Path Officials Took Is a Mystery." 2018. https://www.propublica.org/article/an-atomwaffen-member-sketched-a-map-to-take-the-neo-nazis-down-what-path-officials-took-is-a-mystery; Tampa Bay Times. "How Did Florida National Guard Miss Soldier's Neo-Nazi Leanings?" 2017. https://www.tampabay.com/news/military/how-did-florida-national-guard-miss-soldiers-neo-nazi-leanings/2324930/ ↩
- Tampa Bay Times. Coverage of Devon Arthurs sentencing. 2018. ↩
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