Elliott Kline (born 1991), also known as Eli Mosley, is an American

neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...

and

military impostor A military impostor is a person who makes false claims about their military service in civilian life. This includes claims by people that have never been in the military as well as lies or embellishments by genuine veterans. Some individuals who d ...

. He is the former leader of

Identity Evropa Identity Evropa () was an American far-right, neo-Nazi, neo-fascist, and white supremacist organization established in March 2016. It was rebranded as the American Identity Movement in March 2019. In November 2020, the group disbanded. Leaders ...

, and was a prominent organizer in the

alt-right The alt-right (abbreviated from alternative right) is a Far-right politics, far-right, White nationalism, white nationalist movement. A largely Internet activism, online phenomenon, the alt-right originated in the United States during the late ...

movement between 2017 and 2018. He was also a key figure behind the August 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, which was one of several neo-Nazi rallies that Kline helped organize. The ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' revealed in February 2018 that Kline had lied about his military service. Specifically, Kline had pretended to be a combat veteran of Iraq when in fact he had been stationed in Pennsylvania throughout this time in the military. Following the revelation of his lie, Kline withdrew from political activism.

Early life

Kline grew up in

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. He graduated from Wilson High School in 2010 then attended several colleges before dropping out without obtaining a degree. He later joined the

Pennsylvania National Guard The Pennsylvania National Guard is one of the oldest and largest National Guards in the United States Department of Defense. It traces its roots to 1747 when Benjamin Franklin established the Associators in Philadelphia. With more than 18,000 per ...

, where he served for about six years.

Alt-right activism

Kline's

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

of Eli Mosley was inspired by British fascist

Oswald Mosley Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980), was a British aristocrat and politician who rose to fame during the 1920s and 1930s when he, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, turned to fascism. ...

. Kline joined the

Proud Boys The Proud Boys is an American far-right politics, far-right, Neo-fascism, neo-fascist militant organization that promotes and engages in political violence.Far-right: * * Fascist: * * * * * Men only: * * * Political violence and militancy: ...

in 2016. He helped organize the 2017 white supremacist Unite the Right rally. After Kline condemned a tweet by

Jason Kessler Jason Eric Kessler (born September 22, 1983) is an American neo-Nazi, white supremacist, and antisemitic conspiracy theorist. Kessler organized the Unite the Right rally held in Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 11–12, 2017, and the Unite ...

, who wrote that the counterprotester killed at the rally in a car attack deserved to die, Kessler tweeted that, "There is an individual who has done a coordinated smear job on me, from within the movement; that person is Eli Mosley, Elliott Kline. From the beginning he was fucking things up." Kline became the head of

in August 2017. At the same time, Kline took a position as a writer for the neo-Nazi ''Daily Stormer'', for which he promoted racial hatred and conspiracy theories about Jews. In order to bolster his reputation, throughout his time in the alt-right movement Kline claimed that he had deployed to and fought in Iraq and Kuwait, when in fact his unit never left the state of Pennsylvania during his service. The lie was exposed in a February 2018 ''

'' report, and Kline subsequently withdrew from political activism.

Legal issues

In October 2017, Kline was named as a defendant in ''

Sines v. Kessler ''Sines v. Kessler'' was a civil lawsuit against various organizers, promoters, and participants in the Unite the Right rally, a white supremacist rally that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia in August 2017. The trial began in October 2021, ...

,'' a case brought by nine Charlottesville residents against various organizers, promoters, and participants in the Unite the Right rally. Kline was jailed in January 2020 for

contempt of court Contempt of court, often referred to simply as "contempt", is the crime of being disobedient to or disrespectful toward a court of law and its officers in the form of behavior that opposes or defies the authority, justice, and dignity of the co ...

after ignoring orders to produce records, including credentials for his email and social media accounts. He was held at the Albemarle–Charlottesville County Regional Jail for about a week. The trial was originally scheduled for late 2020, but was postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The trial began on October 25, 2021. During the trial, plaintiffs showed a video deposition of Samantha Froelich, an ex-girlfriend of Kline's, who described her experiences as a former member of Identity Evropa and the alt-right. The jury reached a partial verdict on November 23. Kline was found liable on two claims:

civil conspiracy A civil conspiracy is a form of conspiracy involving an agreement between two or more parties to deprive a third party of legal rights or deceive a third party to obtain an illegal objective.

under Virginia state law, and engaging in race-based harassment or violence.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kline, Elliott 1991 births Activists from Pennsylvania American conspiracy theorists American prisoners and detainees American neo-Nazis Living people Pennsylvania National Guard personnel People from Reading, Pennsylvania Impostors Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government

Early life

Alt-right activism

Legal issues

See also

References