There are many hate groups in Nebraska, including Neo-Nazi, white supremacist and other extremist organizations. But first, what defines a hate group? It’s a term you hear so often, that the meaning might be a bit hazy, so here we go:
The Southern Poverty Law Center defines a hate group as an organization or collection of individuals that – based on its official statements or principles, the statements of its leaders, or its activities – has beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics. An organization does not need to have engaged in criminal conduct or have followed their speech with actual unlawful action to be labeled a hate group. We do not list individuals as hate groups, only organizations.
The groups listed below, and the people who created and participate in them, meet this criteria. They justify their hatred of others through religious beliefs or warped perspectives shaped through adherence to fringe beliefs perpetuated through misinformation and conspiracy theories.
This list is specific to groups whose missions are not only divisive and hateful, but are obsessed with children and sex, and controlling education throughout the state of Nebraska.
We should also note that a group’s original intent may sound noble or rational, and they may not have started off as a hate group. Their mission or leadership may have devolved or become twisted over time, or perhaps were initially masked until they felt brave enough to drop their façade. Others were created by people who are out of touch with reality to begin with, and have never masked their divisive intentions.
ImPact Bellevue – This group run by Kelli Brady, Jennifer Hicks, Trina Lass and Linda McNeill Moran was created in May of 2021 under the pretense of protecting parents rights. Its mission is:
Raising awareness about Critical Race Theory and Comprehensive Sexuality Education. To keep radical Ideology out of our Public Schools. Critical Race Theory causes division, hate, racism and victimhood under the guise of Equality. This is corrupting our youth. It limits free speech and choice. If you want to help children get a better education, this is a great start. We are about freedom of choice. Information about masks, homeschooling, types of curriculum (sex education for example) and vaccines mandates. Parents are the ultimate decision maker in their children’s lives.
Kelli Brady was also behind a petition drive to eliminate the State Board of Education in order to fight “Socialist rot in our education,” among other things. This group is connected to Nebraska Volunteers Restoring the Good Life, another extremist group run by three of the four people listed here.
Both of these groups grew out of a militant anti-vax and anti-mask movement, mostly of homeschoolers who want to eliminate or control public education. Seems like a severe mental disconnect here, homeschooling parents wanting to control public schools. Hmm…
ImPact Bellevue has also aired showings of The Mind Polluters, which pushes the fringe belief that teachers are groomers, so good luck reasoning with these folks.
Moms for Liberty – This nationwide organization has a chapter in Douglas County, as well as in Sheridan County. MFL was developed under the guise of protecting “parents rights” but in reality strips away freedom from all students and parents, exerts control over teachers and public schools, and diminishes the rights of students who identify as LGBTQIA.
Nebraska members include Britt Holtmeyer, Ed Weniger, Loan Eby, Allie French and Linda Vermooten, most of whom have run or currently are running for office on various boards of education.
Nebraska Family Alliance – For those who want a side of white Christian nationalism with their attempts to strip away individual liberty, look no further than the NFA. They hate LGBTQIA people, and want to do anything and everything they can to take away their civil rights. They also oppose birth control, divorce, and have more violent Christian “values” than you can shake a stick at. Just ask their team: executive director Karen Bowling, policy director Nate Grasz, and other minions Marilyn Newland, John Horsechief, Dawn Witt, Kelly Lanka and Elizabeth Nunnally. Will we pray for them? Yes, we will gladly pray the NFA away.
Nebraska Freedom Coalition – This group is about freedom… unless it’s your personal freedom as a woman, 2SLGBTQIA person, or parent to make individual decisions for your child and family. Visit https://nebraskafreedom.com/ to learn more about who is behind this group, including Robert Anthony (who flip-flops between Sarpy and Cass Counties to vote, as it suits him, and takes pride in both his lack of voter ethics and harassment of women), Malia Shirley (a white supremacist), Patrick Peterson (who advocates for violence as a way to solve problems), and Elliott Bottorf (whose anti-Semitism rivals Kanye’s).
Nebraska Parents Involved in Education – This group exists to abolish the United States Department of Education. As with all of the groups listed here, they are anti-government, and spread and promote misinformation and conspiracy theories.
Nebraskans Against Government Overreach – (not to be confused with the much more appropriately intentioned https://nebraskansagainstgovernmentoverreach.com/) describes itself as follows:
Nebraskans Against Government Overreach is a grassroots group dedicated to halting the government overreach affecting citizens across Nebraska, preserving the Liberty of Nebraskans and raising public awareness on informed consent and individual civil rights.
This, of course, means the “civil rights” of white cis-het people who threw hissy fits about wearing masks at the height of the Covid pandemic, and like to compare our government (both state and federal) to the Third Reich. The group includes Allie French, a candidate in District 23, who is certifiably crazy (we can’t imagine why she lost custody of her child during her divorce), and thinks she should have the right to harass legislators whose votes she doesn’t like in order to “hold them accountable.”
Nebraskans for Founders Values – This group’s main focuses are censorship and banning books they personally don’t like, with an emphasis on yanking books out of public schools. They also believe that “homicide laws” should be enforced against a woman who has an abortion, that gender identity and sexuality are binary, and that God needs to be returned to public schools.
This anti-government group was previously led by executive directors, Brad and Stephanie Johnson, and is now led by Meg Kallina. Nebraskans for Founders Values meets all definitions of a hate group in their attacks on laws that protect women, the LGBTQIA community, non-Christian, and non-white people, thanks to founder, Marilyn Asher.
Plattsmouth Coalition Protecting Children – Created by Terri Cunningham-Swanson, and run by Lisa Winterstien and Justin Jensen after “TCS” lost her recall election. This group exists to perpetuate misinformation, conspiracy theories and fear-mongering about the supposed sexualization of children in public schools. It is a who’s-who of Cass County alt-right white nationalists. They rely heavily on propaganda with no basis in reality, such as the movie by which Terri lives her life, The Mind Polluters.
Protect Nebraska Children Coalition – Backed by another hate group, Family Watch International, these folks – with founder Sue Greenwald – only want to protect cis-het students in particular. They do this by sheltering them from the real world through book banning, especially books containing characters who are LGBTQIA, as well as by removing comprehensive sex education from schools, and preventing critical race theory from being taught in schools.
Candidates they are currently endorsing are Liz David (District 1, State Board of Education); Linda Vermooten (District 2, State Board of Education); Lisa Schonhoff (District 3, State Board of Education); and Stacy Matula (District 4, State Board of Education). Each of these candidates buy into and perpetuate the “indoctrination” rhetoric and fear-mongering surrounding public schools. Tiffany Carter, part of the Nebraska Library Commission, is also a member of this group and will happily teach you how to ban books in schools. The founder, Sue Greenwald, spouts nonsense about “socialist boondogle”, and Nebraska State Board of Education members, Kirk Penner and Elizabeth Tegtmeier (whose homeschooled son was accused of sexual assault) are proud members of this extremist group.
Round the Bend Steakhouse – A business owned by TJ Olson and Tifini Olson in Ashland, Nebraska, that plays host and caters to the above-mentioned hate groups. If there’s a gathering of book-banning destroyers of democracy, it’s probably happening right here. They have hosted Protect Nebraska Children Coalition and political grifter, Douglas Frank, who earns his living peddling election denial lies to people he knows are gullible or desperate enough to believe him. On July 8, 2024 he and “Cass County Election Integrity” took advantage of people eager to believe those lies and empty their wallets to support him by attending his presentation at this venue. Nebraska State Board of Education candidate Linda Vermooten attended this event, and expressed her support of his debunked election denial “theories.”
Shindigs – A business owned by Laverne and Lora Medenblik in Plattsmouth, Nebraska, that hosted Terri Cunningham-Swanson’s “town hall” during her recall election. The owners are election deniers who promote alt-right candidates.
Team Sarpy – A group of election deniers who hate LGBTQIA people and minorities, promote conspiracy theories, and claim literature found in schools is equivalent to pornography. Among their members are Moms for Liberty board of education candidates, Linda Vermooten and Ed Weniger. Spokespeople for Team Sarpy include Robbie Adams (who represented them at the July 2023 “Protect Our Kids” event) and Loreen Reynante (who is also a campaign organizer for Vermooten and Weniger).
The Voter Information Project – Though it claims to be nonpartisan, Kathy Holkeboer writes with a clear far right extremist perspective and bias. She has testified before the Nebraska State Board of Education on the same side as a list of people known to be actively involved in the above-listed hate groups, including Maris Bentley, Fanchon Blythe, Mark Bonkiewicz, Allie French, and Brittany Holtmeyer. Her “articles” use biased sources who claim to be experts and Glennia St. John Sand of Plattsmouth, one of Terri Cunningham-Swanson’s most ardent disciples, is a proud volunteer for this endeavor.
That and their article sources tell us all we need to know about what this group promotes.
Those of us here at Nebraska Meadowlark are obviously biased, as well. Specifically, we respect the dignity, individuality and freedom of every individual until they try to infringe upon others’ dignity, individuality and freedom, and/or seek to perpetuate harmful legislation or misinformation.
The NEGOP, Cass County GOP, Sarpy County GOP and other Nebraska County GOPs are not only behaving as hate groups, but also have significant overlap with those previously mentioned. Known alt-right white nationalists leading and participating in county GOPs include Tracy Zeorian, Rich Dreesman and Sheriff Robert Sorenson (Cass County GOP), and Michael Tiedeman and Robert Anthony (Sarpy County GOP; Robert voted in 2023 with the Sarpy County GOP to censure Ben Sasse; he then voted in the recall election in Plattsmouth, Cass County less than a year later, in January of 2024, only to claim he voted in Sarpy County again in the May 2024 primary).
We should also mention Fearless Features. While not specifically in Nebraska, Mark and Amber Archer are known for their propaganda film, The Mind Polluters, which features the following Nebraskans: Maris Bentley (of Plattsmouth) and Mark Bonkiewicz (of Omaha), both of whom are members of Nebraskans for Founders Values. Though the film is referred to as a “documentary,” it doesn’t rise to that standard. Not by a long shot. Rather, it is a vehicle for hatred toward public schools, teachers and LGBTQIA students.
All of these groups bear watching as they continue to fight to control the people in the state of Nebraska.
This entry will be updated as needed. If you are aware of groups forming or that should be included on this list, please contact us. If you have additional information that should be included in these entries, please reach out to us at NicoLE@NebraskaMeadowlark.com.