Vanguard America
- William Jukes-Bennett
- Dec 29, 2025
- 12 min read
Introduction & Overview
Vanguard America was a far-right, white supremacist/neo-Nazi organisation largely active between 2016 and 2017. Founded by ex-Marine Dillon Ulysses Hopper, Vanguard America began attending rallies and conducting flyering activities across US college campuses in 2016.
Utilising its clean aesthetic and more politically palatable approach to far-right politics, Vanguard America quickly amassed a considerable membership base of young white men. This led to increased activity and attendance numbers at rallies, culminating in the "Unite the Right" rally on August 12, 2017. This rally, and its tragic events, led to not only the crumbling of Vanguard America's leadership but the splintering of its followers in general.
Whilst Hopper attempted to resuscitate Vanguard America following the events of August 2017, he was inevitably unsuccessful, leading to the group fading from the public eye by the summer of 2018.
History & Foundations
Born from the infamous neo-fascist Iron March forums (Southern Poverty Law Center, 2017), Vanguard America (VA) was initially led by Dillon Ulysses Hopper (ADL, 2017). Originally from New Mexico (ADL, 2017), Hopper joined the Marine Corps in 2005 following his graduation from high school, later retiring as a staff sergeant (Beckett and Swaine, 2017).
According to Hopper, VA was founded in California, 2015 (ADL, 2017). However, it was not until 2016 that the group's activities were noticed. VA conducted the posting of racist/white supremacist flyers across US universities, targeting racially diverse universities in particular, and following Trump's election, the group became far more brazen with these actions (Southern Poverty Law Center, 2017).
These propagandist actions saw an increase in VA activity and membership across Arkansas, California, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, Texas and Washington between November 2016 and April 2017 (ADL, 2017). It is in 2016 that VA's leader, Dillon Hopper, is promoted to staff sergeant (Beckett and Swaine, 2017). However, by January 2017, Hopper retired from the Marine Corps (Beckett and Swaine, 2017).
Whilst not stated by Hopper, it is safe to assume his departure from the military was motivated by the desire to further pursue his racist objectives through the VA. The group's activity continued into 2017, with two synagogues in Shreveport, Louisiana, reporting antisemitic VA stickers on their property (ADL, 2017). VA also began to expand its ties to neo-nazi movements by attending white supremacist rallies in Pikeville, Kentucky. These events were organised by the neo-Nazi network "Nationalist Front", of which VA became a member following the rally (ADL, 2017).
VA's neo-Nazi links grew further as members attended a speech by Richard Spencer at Auburn University, Alabama, on the 18th of April, shortly followed by attending a National Front rally on the 29th, and a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, on May 13th (ADL, 2017). This increased activity and consequent visibility led to some negative media attention following the murder of a black Maryland university student. Richard Collins III was stabbed to death by another white Maryland student who was found to be a member of the far-right Facebook group "Alt-Reich Nation" (BBC, 2017). Whilst the murder was never fully linked to VA, the group received flak due to their flyering activities on the Maryland campus (Beckett and Swaine, 2017).
Despite this stumbling block, VA's influence spread internationally in June through the foundation of its British contingent, Vanguard Britannia. This new chapter, although small, applied the same "patriotic" and racist approach to UK politics (Child and Poulter, 2017). Back in the US, VA members attended an anti-Islam march in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on the 10th of June (ADL, 2017). On the same day, in Houston, Texas, VA members protested alongside other white supremacist movements against the removal of the Sam Houston monument (ADL, 2017).
VA's activity in this period continued to increase, with several dozen VA members attending the "Texas is Ours" rally in Austin on June 17th (ADL, 2017). At this rally, Hopper spoke alongside Thomas Rousseau, the leader of the Texas VA chapter. At the time Rousseau was only 18 (Schaeffer and Zimmermann, 2019). Following the event, Hopper complained that Rousseau had misled the rally organisers into believing that Rousseau was VA's leader (ADL, 2017). According to Hopper, Rousseau's lengthy speech further implied that he was the leader, creating further confusion regarding which of the two was, in fact, VA's leader (ADL, 2017). Hopper's paranoia was found to be legitimate on June 20th when Rousseau began a takeover of VA's online platforms (ADL, 2017). Having previously ascertained control of VA's social media accounts/platforms under the guise of security precautions, Rousseau removed Hopper's access to all said platforms.
Whilst the group's leadership was in turmoil, its chapters continued their political actions. Throughout July, Vanguard Britannia flyers begin appearing in Arbroath, Scotland, as well as Eastleigh and Winchester, in Hampshire, England (Child and Poulter, 2017). The Holocaust memorial in Lakewood, New Jersey, was vandalised with an anti-semitic VA banner on the 2nd of July, followed by simultaneous vandalism actions on July 16th in Austin, Texas (ADL, 2017).
VA's peak levels of media attention followed their involvement in the white supremacist "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, on the 12th of August. Led by Rousseau and with Hopper notably missing, VA members attended the rally (ADL, 2017) and participated in violent clashes with counter-protestors (Cullen, 2017). These clashes culminated when a right-wing protestor drove his car into a large group of counter-protestors, killing Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old paralegal, and injuring countless others (Southern Poverty Law Center, 2017).
Not only had VA assisted the event's organiser, Jason Kessler, in its execution (Barrouquere, 2018), but the attacker, James Alex Fields, had been a part of the rally's VA contingent (Southern Poverty Law Center, 2017). Despite photos/video emerging of Fields standing/marching with VA members and carrying a shield marked with the group's logo (ADL, 2017), VA made a statement on social media denying a link between the group and Fields (Southern Poverty Law Center, 2017).
According to VA, shields were handed out to anyone who asked for one, and nobody with Field's name had ever applied for membership (Moyer and Beyer, 2017); however, this does not explain why Field's was wearing the group's uniform of khaki pants and a white polo shirt (Cullen, 2017). Whilst publicly the group distanced themselves from Field's actions, on the 14th of August, Rousseau posted on the group's Discord server that
“The statement never said that what he did was wrong, just clarified that he wasn’t a member. People aren’t buying it anyways.” (Vanguard American/Vanguard America Reading and Research/Southern Poverty Law Center, 2025|Southern Poverty Law Center, 2025)
Rousseau's observation that the public wasn't "buying it" was highly accurate, with VA receiving major critical public attention. However, whilst the Unite the Right contingent of VA was led by Rousseau, Hopper was the one to garner most of the public backlash due to his perceived leadership of the group up until this point (ADL, 2017). This pressure led to the group splintering and going underground (ADL, 2017). Vanguard Britannia also separated itself from the remaining chapters of VA, which had not been dissolved following the rally. The British contingent stated the separation was due to leadership clashes, and not because of the rally, instead claiming the events in Charlottesville had been a false flag attack (Child and Poulter, 2017).
Following the "Unite the Right" rally, both Hopper and Rousseau distanced themselves from the events and VA in general. Hopper decided to remain absent and distant from the group for the time being, allowing Rousseau to take uncontested control of its activities (ADL, 2017). Rousseau seized on this opportunity, rebranding the group's website to promote Patriot Front (his new, less visibly extreme, political project) on the 30th of August (Vanguard American/Vanguard America Reading and Research/Southern Poverty Law Center, 2025|Southern Poverty Law Center, 2025). Many VA members followed Rousseau over to Patriot Front, with a large number having marched alongside Rousseau during the Unite the Right rally (ADL, 2017).
Now largely gutted, VA continued its activity in October, with just 7 members attending a Nationalist Front rally in Shelbyville (ADL, 2017). On the 13th, a synagogue in Rome, Georgia, was vandalised with a VA flier reading "America will bathe in the light of the black sun! The tide of Jewish Globalism wanes." (ADL, 2017). This anti-semitic/racist activity continued stochastically in December at Toledo University, Ohio, and the Southern Methodist University campus, Texas (Murphy, 2017). On the 18th, VA's Twitter account was banned as a part of a wider crackdown on hate-based accounts (Luckerson, 2017).
Further fracturing took hold of VA in January 2018. Following infighting and accusations of incompetent leadership, VA members, notably from Texas and Tennessee, assisted in the formation of the National Socialist Legion (ADL, 2017). This group, according to a 4chan post in March 2018, aims to create homesteads across the country ready for the future white revolt and secession. This almost entirely crippled the group's ability to carry out political actions. VA's death threats consisted of a banner reading "Feminists deserve the rope" being hung on an overpass during the Women's March in Providence, Rhode Island, on the 20th of January and VA fliers being posted at the Casa Guanajuato Community Center on the 3rd of March (ADL, 2017).
Objectives & Ideology
VA members follow a strict ideology of traditionalism, white supremacy, and, in many cases, neo-Nazism. VA believes that America should be a white ethnostate, openly opposes multiculturalism, and believes that the white race should be in control of the US (ADL, 2017). The group's slogan, "blood and soil", implies that white blood has a link with American soil, with the phrase being popularised by Nazi party followers as "Blud und Boden" (Murphy, et al., 2017). VA seems to believe that America was founded and built on white blood and culture, viewing other cultures and races as incompatible with those originating from the white race.
Whilst having always resided within the right-wing space, VA's activity and collaborative efforts gradually moved further into the neo-Nazi space, especially as Rousseau increased his control over the group (ADL, 2017). However, VA was rarely brazen with their promotion of these ideas, instead often making use of sanitised dog whistles. The group's website reads: “The mission of Vanguard America is the preservation and progression of our people, culture, values, and future in the US." (Buncombe, 2017), a statement rather reminiscent of the neo-Nazi 14 words slogan. The welcome message of the group's website also parrots ideas clearly derived from replacement theory: "Our people are subjugated while an endless tide of incompatible foreigners floods this nation every year" (Cullen, 2017).
VA's white supremacism goes beyond slogans such as "the glory of the Aryan nation must be recaptured” (ADL, 2017) and into its membership requirements, with all applicants having to be at least 80% white (Cullen, 2017). Members must also be employed, not smoke or drink, and not have hand or neck tattoos (Moyer and Beyer, 2017). Obese men were also excluded from membership (Beckett and Swaine, 2017), as well as criminals and those with addictions (Moyer and Beyer, 2017). Predictably, VA also exhibits extensive homophobia and transphobia (Moyer and Beyer, 2017).
Whilst slightly coy about its neo-Nazi views, VA openly associates itself with fascism. Francisco Rivera, spokesperson for the VA Virginia branch, said that "Fascist is an accurate term" for the group at a speech in May 2017 (Moyer and Beyer, 2017). The group's general ideology paints a clearly fascistic picture, as does the group's strict adherence to its uniform, khaki pants and a white polo top, and its wider iconography/branding. VA's flag features an eagle carrying a fasces. The fasces is an authoritarian symbol taken from Italian politics (Southern Poverty Law Center, 2017 1), often being carried by an eagle in depictions on the uniforms of Nazi and Mussolini followers.
Military/Political Abilities
VA's peak activity occurred during the 2016-2017 school year (ADL, 2017). During this time, at the National Front rally attended by VA in April 2017, Hopper claimed that the organisation had 200 members across 20 states (ADL, 2017). Whilst the group managed to garner a widespread following, its infamy largely seems to have come from associations with various controversies as opposed to concrete political progress.
Regardless of this, VA's visibility was certainly an impressive achievement. The ADL (2017) recorded 32 incidents of flyering across Arkansas, California, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, Oregon, Texas, Virginia and Washington during the 2016-2017 school year. This activity decreased, but was still notable, during the 2017-2018 school year with 14 incidents recorded across Arizona, Tennessee, Texas, and Massachusetts.
Approach to Resistance
VA's activities were largely designed to target young white men around college age, hence the group's consistent targeting of US universities with flyers, posters, and stickers (ADL, 2017). The messaging of these promotional materials often consisted of existential subjects designed to imply that the future of young white men was being threatened by the existence of multiculturalism. At one point, Hopper openly stated that the "future is about the youth", and for that reason, the group's primary membership was between 18 and 24 years old (Beckett and Swaine, 2017).
Engagement with this demographic was maintained through the curation of a slick image/brand for the organisation. There was a very clear effort to maintain the clean image of the organisation whilst simultaneously promoting violent views (Cullen, 2017). One VA event organiser stated that
“We also uphold standards of dress and grooming and physical fitness because our ideology is one of strength and purity and self-improvement” (Beckett and Swaine, 2017).
Whilst VA denies that it promotes violence (Moyer and Beyer, 2017), its militant rhetoric and involvement in events such as the "Unite the Right" rally indicate otherwise. This approach to politics is unsurprising considering the group's roots in the Iron March forums. The page gained infamy due to the numerous violent extremist groups it had spawned before its dissolution (Cullen, 2017).
Had he not retired, Hopper's promotion to staff sergeant in October 2016 meant he was to be in charge of the training of prospective Marine officers. However, it seems that the VA leader prioritised training the group's members over his fellow corpsmen. Hopper stated in a speech to fellow Nazis at a rally in Pikeville, Kentucky, that he had made efforts to implement the lessons he had learned from his time in the military to harden the group (Beckett and Swaine, 2017), resulting in the group taking on a paramilitary element. Despite Hopper's involvement with the Marines, he has stated that members had to end their contracts with the military before having anything to do with VA "for their safety." (Snow, 2019).
In open carry states, VA members would regularly attend activities openly carrying firearms, and making use of military style uniforms, movements, and rest positions (ADL, 2017). The majority of said activities consisted of rallies and group meetings. Through these frequent and relatively heavily attended events, VA became pioneers/figureheads for street demonstrations by the far right (Cullen, 2017). VA used rallies/meetings as not just a show of strength, but also as a recruitment tool due to their visual spectacle (ADL, 2017).
International Relations & Alliances
VA's primary association during its activity was with the aforementioned Nationalist Front. This coalition of neo-nazi/neo-confederate groups consisted of the National Socialist Movement, Traditionalist Worker's Party, the League of the South, and Vanguard America (Buncombe, 2017). Through collaborative efforts, the Nationalist Front organised rallies across the US to spread far-right propaganda and platform white supremacist figureheads.
Bibliography
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