ATLANTA — Channel 2 Action News has learned that one of the organizers of an antisemitic rally outside of a Cobb County synagogue Saturday was arrested the night before at a similar incident in Macon.
We also uncovered that another of the rally organizers spent a year in prison for the aggravated assault of a Black man in Columbus, Georgia in 2010.
Both men are part of a hate group called the Goyim Defense League.
The Anti-Defamation League’s Center for Extremism believes the group is behind not just the Synagogue rally, but a series of antisemitic incidents in recent months across metro Atlanta.
“It’s a very small group of people who travel all across the country engaging in antisemitic stunts. And it’s important for the community to understand this is just a handful of people and they make a lot of noise,” said Katie McCarthy, an investigator with the Center of Extremism at ADL.
Our Channel 2 Action News camera was there outside Chabad of Cobb County where John Minadeo II, of Florida, identified himself as one of the leaders of the group.
On June 23, Minadeo was arrested by Bibb County Sheriff’s Deputies outside a synagogue there. He was charged with disorderly conduct and public disturbance after police say refused to stop shouting obscenities into a bullhorn when they tried to disburse the crowd.
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In reviewing the video of the Cobb incident, we identified Michael David Weaver, who also goes by the name Michael Carothers. He was convicted in Columbus, Georgia in the 2010 attack of a Black man he did not know. He served a year in prison on the aggravated assault charge.
Last month, Channel 2 Action News obtained surveillance video showing someone tossing antisemitic fliers into yards in a Roswell neighborhood. In recent months we have seen similar fliers in neighborhoods in Cobb County and Sandy Springs.
The ADL believes all are tied to the same group.
“It’s important to note that the majority of them are from out of state. They have come to Georgia to spread their hate,” McCarthy said.
The state of Florida passed something called a public nuisance law - HB 269 - in the spring that outlaws actions like tossing fliers and projecting images.
“If you effectively trespass on someone else’s building, you can be held accountable. If it’s your own building you can do what you want,” said the bill’s sponsor, Florida Rep. Randy Fine.
Minadeo posted on social media that he was taking a “road trip.”
ADL says it’s possible there could be more incidents in Georgia in the coming days or even over the coming weekend.
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