“The American Nazi Party is now in the hands of the Government,” George Rockwell, leader of the party, declared here today following the seizing of his headquarters in Arlington, Va., yesterday by U. S. Internal Revenue Service agents for non-payment of $5,278 in taxes by the party.
An IRS spokesman said this amount included withholding, employment, and corporate income taxes for the years 1963, 1964, and 1965. The Nazi headquarters is leased by the party. The IRS obtained consent of the landlord to keep the property seized in the building for the time being. Property seized included expensive printing equipment which printed multi-colored anti-Semitic and anti-Negro literature.
It was indicated that the Nazis will continue to operate from another building in Arlington, the barracks used to house Rockwell’s “stormtroopers.” At the raided office three Nazis were kept on regular duty keeping membership rolls and records; five were assigned to the printing shop, and two worked in the mailing room. An IRS official said that if the Nazis do not pay the back taxes, the goods confiscated will be auctioned publicly to pay the debt to the Government.
Rockwell stated that he had been negotiating for several months on the past-due taxes claimed by the Government. He said “we told them we couldn’t pay it. We just don’t have the money.” The Nazi leader said that to free the property the party needed a lawyer but couldn’t afford one. The Internal Revenue raid on the Nazi office followed several years of observation of Nazi activities by Federal authorities.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
