Two black nationalist groups — one in Atlanta and another in Tampa — have been implicated in an influence-peddling scheme by a Russian national based in Moscow.
Aleksandr Viktorovich Ionov, a Russian national with Kremlin connections, was funding extremist groups in the United States, directing them to “publish pro-Russian propaganda, as well as other information designed to cause dissension in the United States and to promote secessionist ideologies,” according to the indictment.
The two black nationalist groups — the Black Hammer Party based in Atlanta and the Uhuru Movement out of Tampa Bay — were fed a steady stream of pro-Moscow propaganda about the war in Ukraine. Ionov also paid for members to travel to San Francisco and Russia.
A third separatist group from California was also influenced by Ionov, according to the Indictment.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Ionov is president of the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia (AGMR) and describes himself as a “human rights activist.” But federal authorities claim he was working with unnamed members of the FSB, the Russian security service that is the successor of the Soviet-era KGB.
The indictment claims Ionov used his organization to recruit dissident groups from the U.S. and encourage them to advocate for secession and to promote Russian talking points.
“Thereafter, Ionov exercised direction and control over these groups on behalf of the FSB,” the indictment claims. “Ionov also monitored and regularly reported on their activities to the FSB.”
The Black Hammer Party’s leader, Gazi Kodzo, is currently under indictment for a laundry list of charges.
Last week, Kodzo, whose real name is Augustus Claudius Romain Jr., was arrested and charged with 11 felony counts, including party to the crime of false imprisonment, party to the crime of kidnapping, party to the crime of aggravated assault, criminal street gang activity, criminal conspiracy to commit a felony and aggravated sodomy, following a SWAT standoff outside the group’s communal home in Fayetteville. The standoff ended after police sent a robot into the home and found an 18-year-old man dead, apparently of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Kodzo also has a connection to the Uhuru Movement, serving as secretary-general until 2018 when he either left or was expelled.
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Ionov used these nationalist groups as megaphones to amplify his pro-Russian, anti-American message. He also used them on at least two occasions to interfere in local elections.
In addition, the indictment claims Ionov used these connections to interfere in local elections in Florida by supporting and consulting in two Uhuru members’ campaigns for local office in 2017 and 2019. Ionov’s involvement in the campaigns allegedly impressed members of the FSB, and one agent of the security force wrote to Ionov that “our election campaign is kind of unique … are we the first in history?”
Not by a longshot, of course. But that agent’s ignorance of American history is telling. Ionov’s efforts to undermine democracy were amateurish and silly. There have been far more effective pro-Russian propagandists but whether they’re in the pay of the FSB is unknown.
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