George Leggett (neo-Nazi)

George F. Leggett is or was an American neo-Nazi militant from the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, who led a small group called the United Nordic Confederation during the late 1950s.^[1][2]

According to the NYPD, Leggett was born in the Bronx, New York City, while Leggett himself claimed he was born in Germany and that his family was killed during the Second World War, for which he wanted revenge. Leggett was briefly in the United States Army in 1956, was discharged due to being "unfit for military service", and had some history of psychiatric treatment. In 1957, after running away from home, Leggett lived for a time in Wyoming, where he was arrested for vagrancy.^[1]

In late 1957, Leggett established the United Nordic Confederation, an armed group, becoming its "commander", and began using the alias "George von Licter".^[1][3] The New York Times described the core group as consisting of 12 Forest Hills youths,^[1] although according to both Leggett and the NYPD there were hundreds of other members.^[4] Leggett advocated for the deportation of all American Jews and Black Americans to Israel and Africa, respectively. Members of his group were required to sign an oath dedicating their lives to racial purification and the restoration of the "moral strength, spiritual greatness and physical perfection which make up the true Nordic", and pledged to "be superior in all things beginning with Christianity, humanity, philosophy and science".^[4] Under Leggett's direction, the United Nordic Confederation plotted to rob a bank in the adjacent Kew Gardens neighborhood, with the intention of seizing $20,000 to $40,000 for the establishment of a Neo-Nazi training camp in upstate New York State.^[1]

On 17 January 1958, the NYPD carried out a surprise dawn raid in which Leggett and four other members were arrested, hours before the robbery was set to go ahead.^[1] Following the raid and other mass arrests, the group effectively ceased to function.^[3] The FBI entered the case on 20 January and said it was seeking out sympathizers of the group outside of New York State.^[5] While his court case was ongoing, Leggett was arrested again on 27 October 1958 for distributing advertisements for a presumably neo-Nazi publication called "Right".^[6] On 3 December 1958, Leggett was convicted on four counts of burglary and three of petit larceny. On 28 January 1959, a judge revised Leggett's conviction to one count of burglary and a suspended sentence for the other six counts– stating that a lengthy prison term would do him "no good" in terms of rehabilitation– and sentenced Leggett to an indeterminate period at Elmira Correctional Facility.^[2] Nothing else of Leggett's life after his sentencing is known.

• White supremacy in the United States
• List of neo-Nazi organizations