A former member of a neo-Nazi group that prosecutors allege is tied to the killing of Blaze Bernstein by his former classmate Samuel Woodward outlined the inner-workings of the militant organization during testimony this week in Woodward’s ongoing murder trial.
Prosecutors argue that Woodward’s alleged hatred of gay and Jewish people led him to drop out of college and join Atomwaffen Division — an organization federal authorities have described as a racially motivated violent extremist group — before driving Woodward to stab Bernstein to death in 2018 and bury his body in a shallow grave on the edge of a Lake Forest park.
Woodward’s attorney acknowledged at the outset of the trial that Woodward killed Bernstein. The defense denies it was a hate crime, however, leaving the motivation for the slaying — particularly whether or not it was driven by the ideology espoused by Atomwaffen Division — a key question for jurors.
A former member of Atomwaffen — who identified himself in court as Brian Murphy — spent most of the last three days on the stand describing his first-hand experience in the group, which he left shortly after Bernstein’s death. Murphy said he cooperated with detectives investigating Woodward’s killing out of a desire to “see justice for Blaze.”
Murphy described Atomwaffen as a “far right, radical neo-fascist group,” that unlike some other hate groups was interested in accelerating what they believed was an inevitable collapse of society rather than working within the existing political system. Murphy said the group’s main tenets — outlined in the book “Siege” by prominent neo-Nazi James Mason — included hatred of gay and Jewish people and a desire to do “everything humanly possible to bring chaos into society.”
Members of the group would regularly meet up — gatherings they referred to as “hate camps” — in order to hang out and discuss their ideology, to, among other things, take propaganda photos of the members wearing uniforms and skull masks in front of Nazi or Atomwaffen flags or to go to “left leaning bars” in an attempt to confront other patrons, Murphy said.
“We would wear clothing that had symbols associated with our ideology and we would talk loudly to get reactions out of people,” Murphy explained.
Atomwaffen members would also print out fliers and propaganda for the group and post them around college campuses or synagogues, or other locations where they knew such material would spark a reaction and media coverage.
“That is the goal, to get attention and ultimately spread panic and fear,” Murphy said.
According to both the prosecution and defense, Woodward moved to Texas after being convinced to join Atomwaffen by another member. Woodward’s attorney has described Woodward at times living with the other member in a pickup truck and a shelter and relying on food from a pantry.
Murphy described meeting Woodward in person twice during meetups in Texas. Jurors were shown photos taken at those gatherings, one of which included Woodward wearing a skull mask covering half his face, giving a “Nazi salute.”
Murphy disagreed with a defense description of the “hate camps” as being essentially “camping trips except with Nazis saying horrible things.”
“I don’t think all of us were just saying things,” Murphy replied. “They were deep seated beliefs … and they had the potential to act on them.”
Though it wasn’t mentioned during the courtroom testimony, some of the Atomwaffen members Murphy referenced while on the stand have had their own run-ins with the law.
Brandon Clint Russell, a Florida man who helped found the group, was sentenced to five years in federal prison for possessing an unregistered destructive device and for unlawful storage of explosive material. John Cameron Denton, a Texas man who took over leadership of the group, received more than three years in prison for a swatting conspiracy targeting journalists and members of various minority groups and communities across the United States.
There was no testimony from Murphy regarding Woodward directly speaking about any planned illegal actions. But Murphy said members of Atomwaffen were told not to speak to one another about such potential actions. Woodward and his friend in the group expressed dissatisfaction with Atomwaffen leadership, Murphy added, which they allegedly felt was more focused on dropping off the grid rather than “lone wolf activities.”
Woodward eventually moved back to his parent’s home in Newport Beach.
Murphy described finding himself moving away from Atomwaffen after being deployed in the military and stepping back from their online communications. After Woodward’s death, Murphy testified that he reached out to journalists who had been investigating Atomwaffen, along with people with ties to the Bernstein family who put him in touch with detectives.
“I was destroying my marriage because of my decisions,” Murphy said. ” I was trying to figure out how to get out without seeming suspicious to other members or putting a target behind my back. There was always a conflict inside me between my upbringing and being involved in something like this. I just couldn’t handle it anymore.”
Woodward is accused of killing Bernstein — his former Orange County School of the Arts classmate — while Bernstein was home visiting his parents during a winter break. A variety of forensic evidence — including a knife found in Woodward’s room with blood matched through DNA to Bernstein — helped investigators tie Woodward to the killing.
Other Atomwaffen members looked at Woodward as “some sort of martyr” after Bernstein’s death, Murphy said, and “praised and glorified the killing” during online discussions.
Both the prosecution and defense have described Woodward growing up with conservative, religious parents who were unaccepting of hom*osexuality.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Walker has previously described a “hate diary” that Woodward allegedly created in which he wrote explicit entries describing matching up with gay men on dating websites and “ghosting” or scaring them.
Assistant Public Defender Ken Morrison has argued that Woodward, who is on the Autism spectrum, was far more conflicted about his sexuality. The defense attorney has shown the jury at-times apparently flirtatious messages between Woodward and Bernstein, details of which Bernstein allegedly shared with other friends despite telling Woodward he would keep it a secret.
Testimony in the trial resumes on Monday, and is expected to last for weeks.
