The lawsuit alleges members of the group started a “months-long intimidation campaign” in July 2024, and that on Aug. 10, members marched downtown waving swastika flags, yelling racial slurs and brandishing weapons at residents during the city’s annual Jazz and Blues festival.
One of the Blood Tribe’s leaders, Drake Berentz, then ranted in front of City Hall, saying that Springfield had been “taken over” and given “away to savage [racial slur],” according to the lawsuit. The group then responded by chanting “Sieg Heil” and giving Nazi salutes.
According to the lawsuit, members of the hate group then bragged about the chaos on social media and said that the “invasion” of Haitian immigrants was a “crime” that would not “go unanswered,” and the group promised to return.
The suit seeks a jury trial on nine civil charges: conspiracy to violate civil rights, failure to prevent interference with civil rights, public nuisance, telecommunications harassment, menace, incitement to violence, ethnic intimidation, conspiracy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Representatives of the Blood Tribe group could not be reached for comment Friday.
On Aug. 24, Berentz “threatened Springfield’s leaders” at the city’s regular commission meeting, saying “if you keep importing Haitians, things will get worse,” and telling leaders “you’ve been warned.”
Springfield was thrust into the national spotlight in September after national Republican political figures spread false rumors about Haitian immigrants eating pets.
The city was then plagued by at least 33 bomb threats at elementary schools, government buildings, hospitals and private residences, before the Blood Tribe targeted specific residents, the lawsuit alleges.
“The city of Springfield will not stand idly by while hate groups like Blood Tribe attempt to terrorize our residents and violate their civil rights. This lawsuit sends a clear message that hate, intimidation, and violence, have no place in our community,” Mayor Rob Rue, one of the plaintiffs, was quoted as saying in an Anti-Defamation League statement.
On Sept. 28, 12 members of the Blood Tribe led by Berentz gathered outside of Rue’s home and told him to “enjoy your peace for now,” according to the lawsuit. The group then went to city hall, where Berentz claimed the city was property of the Blood Tribe and said “we are ready to face the enemies of the American people in the streets until the problem is dealt with,” according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit says the hate group “set out to terrorize” residents supporting the Haitian community, sending suspicious packages “designed to look like bombs,” hate-filled emails, leaving harassing voicemails, demeaning them and their families on social media, using dating apps to “send men looking for drugs and sex to their homes late at night,” as well as sharing their personal information online — “all the while actively encouraging others to harass and intimidate them.”
The plaintiffs include Rue, the city, Assistant Mayor Dave Estrop, Commissioners Krystal Brown and Tracey Tackett, as well as multiple residents — many of whom spoke in support of the Haitian community at city meetings or have provided services to the community.
According to the lawsuit, each person was threatened by the group for supporting the Haitian community and was named in bomb threats.
The lawsuit names the Blood Tribe as an organization, as well as leaders Christopher Pohlhaus and Drake Berentz and seven “John Does” who took part in the July march.
According to the lawsuit, the Blood Tribe and its members were “motivated by ethnic and racial hatred” against people who supported the city’s Haitian community during the group’s “racist attacks.”
The ADL classifies the Blood Tribe as a white supremacist group founded by Pohlhaus and led by him and Berentz. The Blood Tribe says it has seven regional chapters in the U.S. and Canada.
According to the lawsuit, the Blood Tribe “styles itself as the future leadership of the ‘Aryan’ race, claims to act in ‘defense’ of the coming ‘extinction’ of the ‘Aryan race,’ and seeks to establish ‘future Kings that will swear fealty to our Volk’ and the ‘elimination of all anti-White racial hostility.’ ” It seeks to remove all nonwhite and ”nonracially loyal elements from our society," and also “despises” the LGBTQ+ community.
About the Author
