NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Today, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) filed a complaint on behalf of the Gordon Jewish Community Center (GJCC), a historic cultural nonprofit in Nashville, against several neo-Nazi leaders and the Goyim Defense League (GDL).
In January 2025, a GDL member infiltrated the GJCC’s secured campus — which hosts arts, fitness, youth and other programming and often serves as a place of gathering for children and families — with the intent of intimidating the Jewish community. This is the second case the SPLC has filed based on the criminal and harmful activity engaged in by the neo-Nazis who targeted Nashville’s Black and Jewish communities. Claims include violation of the federal Ku Klux Klan Act, trespassing and fraud, as well as claims against Paul Miller (AKA GypsyCrusader) and Jon Minadeo II, the founder and leader of GDL.
“Using fear and harassment to threaten and intimidate groups is a despicable act that cannot be tolerated in a multicultural society,” said Scott McCoy, deputy legal director, SPLC. “This is the second lawsuit the SPLC has brought against the Goyim Defense League for their actions targeting Nashville’s Black and Jewish communities.”
The GDL is an association of antisemitic white supremacists whose mission, according to statements by the group’s founder, includes “expelling” all Jewish and Black people from the United States. The group’s ideologies overlap significantly with those of other racist, antisemitic groups and neo-Nazi members who peddle similar “great replacement theory” rhetoric.
Following a 10-day GDL intimidation tour in the summer of 2024, in which GDL members intimidated, harassed and assaulted Nashville residents, GDL member Travis Garland returned to Nashville in January 2025 to continue the GDL hate campaign. According to the complaint, Garland also coordinated with Miller, a notorious neo-Nazi who regularly streams racist and antisemitic propaganda against Black, Brown and Jewish people on various platforms to hundreds of thousands of followers.
“Like our first lawsuit, it seeks to hold the bad actors who took part in these conspiracies accountable for stoking hatred and division,” McCoy stated. “We cannot idly stand by as communities are terrorized by those who spread hate and fear. We, as a collective, can take a stand and show white supremacists like Miller and groups like the GDL that we can defeat hate.”
The SPLC filed a complaint earlier this year on behalf of a biracial man who was victimized by GDL’s actions in 2024.
“This lawsuit demonstrates the Nashville Jewish community’s resolve to stand firm in the face of antisemitic intimidation and to hold accountable those who perpetrate it,” said Ben Raybin, attorney, Raybin & Weissman, P.C.
The full complaint for the latest lawsuit is available here.
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About the Southern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center is a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond, working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements and advance the human rights of all people. For more information, visit www.splcenter.org.