Ed Snyder, report prepared exclusively for our web portal, December 3, 2023
Freemasons are no strangers to persecution. Since the early days, religions, dictators, and political actors have sought to repress the eponymous secret society that espouses liberty, equality, and fraternity to humanity, rather than any lesser cause or demagogue. As a result, conspiracy theories accusing Freemasons of everything from corruption to murder to cultism have become so pervasive in the world that less informed people simply accept these accusations as fact because of the cultural integration that they possess. In fact, there are many people who claim to fear and loathe Freemasons without knowing anything about them other than the name. During and since the Covid-19 Pandemic, civil unrest and violent crime reached a historic high, and in the last few years Freemasons have suffered increased targeting of such crimes. I had previously believed that the cause for this uptick in attacks may not be disproportionate when compared to the overall crime analytics, but it seems that there is indeed a disturbing upward trend in hate crimes when compared to overall crime rates.
Background
Freemasons have embraced the secrecy of the Craft to differing degrees depending on the part of the world that they are in, but overall, the secrecy of the fraternity is greatest in regions like Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and the Far East, while being far more public in North America and the United Kingdom. A contributing factor to this is that the UK, US, and Canadian governments have historically been both stable and held a neutral or even ambivalent posture towards the fraternity, in contrast with the other regions have had histories of anti-democratic regimes including but not limited to: communists, fascists, theocrats, warlords, anarchists, et cetera. These regions have unilaterally criminalized membership in Freemasonry, with penalties of participation usually being severe and akin to treason or espionage. During eras of unprecedented censorship and oppression in these countries, Freemasons in the US and Canada have enjoyed the freedom to operate openly, with clearly marked Lodges and personal regalia declaring their proud membership in the fraternity.
Unfortunately, a myriad of factors has led to the rise of radical politics, which sling accusations against every minority, opposing ideology, and society, often encouraging or outright threatening violence against them. The most common of these accusations include the foundation of the “New World Order,” the “Judeo-Masonic Conspiracy,” belief that Freemasonry is synonymous with the Illuminati, et cetera. The secretive and exclusive nature of Freemasonry have made for a convenient scapegoat for radicals and conspiracy theorists, since Masons are unable to refute accusations against them with specific examples and evidence without violating their oaths to the fraternity; essentially, the refusal to use evidence to debunk claims of rituals and the masonic belief system being anything other than philanthropic humanism has allowed conspiracy theories to flourish, and some people have begun taking it upon themselves to punish those who have made no attempt to defend themselves from heinous crimes against humanity.
A spike in violence
Targeting of Masonic lodges and centers have been on the rise in both the US and Canada. On 30 March 2021, Benjamin Orion Carlson Kohlman went on an arson spree in Vancouver, British Columbia and burned 3 Masonic Lodges within 45 minutes. Upon his arrest, he said that the Masons are evil and were attempting mind control on people in his community and voices told him to burn the lodges. He also declared himself to be a believer of various fringe conspiracy theories, including Flat Earth and the Judeo-Masonic Conspiracy. Canada is known for having a very low crime rate compared the US, though violent crime has been on the rise in recent years.
On January 8, 2023 Fayette Lodge 69 in Ellington, Connecticut was set on fire early in the morning while nobody was present. A man in all-black outfit was seen fleeing the scene and had been identified. On 14 June 2023, a man named Luke Pratt set fire to Leesburg Lodge 58 in Leesburg, Florida and guarded the site until the entire building was reduced to ash. Pratt claimed that the Masons were stalking him, and he had been experimenting with homemade explosives before deciding to use gasoline and matches instead.
On August 27, 2023 which is Labor Day in the United States, 29-year old Kadum Hunter Harwood broke into the Chattanooga Masonic Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee. While inside, he was seen on surveillance camera smashing random objects with a sledgehammer, setting fire to them, then firing a “large caliber firearm” into the air as he departed. He then fled to Georgia and made several posts on Facebook boasting about his crimes and threatening the Vatican with violence next. He was quickly caught when he posted the address of the hotel he was staying at and dared police to come and arrest him—his posts suggested he was planning a gunfight and last stand which ultimately never happened.
A much more recent attack shows a clear escalation in brutality and directness. On 10 July 2023 in McAllen, Texas, a man named Julio Diaz gunned down Robert Wise of McAllen Lodge 1110 after the officers installation meeting. Diaz had been posting on social media that the Freemasons were evil and had put a curse on him. He also recorded and posted the murder on social media—the video has since been taken down. Although McAllen police have refused to announce the motive for the murder, people connected to the case are certain that the attack was politically and/or conspiracy related.
These are only a few examples of violent crimes committed against Freemasons, and sadly, most other hate crimes have not been prosecuted yet.
Analyzing the data
According to data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Statistics Canada, crime rates did not change between 2019 and 2020, the year before the Covid-19 Pandemic was declared—a 5.02% increase in the US and 2.55% decrease in Canada. On the surface this seems like cause for optimism, but while crime statistics overall were stable during this period, the percentage of these crimes classified as “hate-related” shows a dramatically different story—hate crimes increased by 26.37% in the US and 35.62% in Canada. Interpreting this data, we can observe that even with the total number of violent crimes remaining stable, the targets for these crimes shifted dramatically towards minorities, foreigners, and other peoples subjected to prejudice and conspiracy theories, including Freemasons. Between 2020 and the present, the ratio of hate crimes to overall crimes has continued to outpace changes in the crime rates, which is cause for alarm for all protected peoples.
Explanations for the trends
It is impossible to recall the Pandemic Years without remembering the myriad of conspiracy theories that were invented, revived, and spread during the mass panic that swept the globe, and much of the responsibility for this can be placed squarely upon the shoulders of politicians and media that capitalized on the chaos for personal gain. Yet not all of the blame can be placed on them, for there is a source of radical thought that has been in use by people all over the world for decades: the internet, and more specifically social media.
American and Canadian lawmakers have been reluctant to regulate on what can or should be posted on public forums like YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter (now called “X”), instead deferring to the companies to regulate themselves and their user bases. However, since almost all revenue for these platforms comes from advertising and user retention, it makes better business sense to give people more of what they want to consume, not less; and if more than half of a platform’s users are addicted to conspiracy-related content and doomsaying, then the platforms will deliver. It wasn’t until the insurrection on January 6, 2021 that platforms began to enforce stricter content controls, but even now mainstream sites continue to be breeding grounds of hate and radicalism.
While many older tech users get exposed to conspiracy theories through TV networks and mainstream social media platforms, there are much darker corners of the web where madness coalesces—forum boards. If regular social media is bad for the psyche, sites like 4Chan and 8kun are lobotomy clinics. Unlike regular social media where every post is connected to a real person’s name and photo, 4Chan and 8kun are entirely anonymous, never require registration, and proudly call themselves “bastions of free expression” which means that only topic moderation is enforced. This means that so long as a user stays within the bounds of the topic, they can say almost anything they want—including hate speech and threats and plans for violence (yes, there are boards for that).
Freemasonry is one of the most popular topics of these forums, but mentions of the fraternity are exclusively negative, and usually conflate it with the Illuminati, Satanism, pedophilia, et cetera. There is no fact or reality checking here; whichever posts receive the biggest reaction from the user base continue to grow, while ones that go unnoticed are forgotten. Therefore, the more offensive, hate-filled, and insane the post, the more likely it is to survive since people will be compelled to react to such posts.
This then creates what is called an “echo chamber,” where like-minded users will encourage increasingly hateful and violent rhetoric, and bully dissenting voices out of the forum, creating the illusion of community and solidarity and exhibitions of cult-like behaviors. It should be noted that all the perpetrators that have been caught committing violence against Masons were doing so because of conspiracy theories that originated on internet forums, and the murder of Robert Wise at the hand of Julio Diaz was intended to be posted online for all to see, especially those that would applaud the gore and call Diaz a hero. On the internet, every character that is posted is there for the world to see, and in a few cases, disturbed people will see these calls to action and be moved to it.
Conclusion
Despite having a clear cause for the increase in hate crimes, the refusal of national governments to muzzle violent speech and instead conduct post-mortems of each attack means that there is little that can be done by Freemasons to prevent these attacks from occurring. In lieu of systemic change, lodges in the US and Canada have begun investing in better security systems which can alert police the instant that an intruder or attacker is detected. It is the most cost-effective method of crime prevention as well as investigation, since most anti-Masonic attacks are vandalism and arson conducted late at night when nobody in the community is active, and hiring night guards is both expensive and inefficient unless he or she is protecting a much larger building or complex than most lodges.
Some Freemasons on the platform Reddit have stated that their members have begun arming themselves to protect against attackers, and even suggested that lodge tylers begin standing guard with guns instead of or in addition to swords. This is an absurd notion for several reasons: 1) The public image of the fraternity arming itself with guns would only serve to stoke more fear from the community and tarnish the reputation of Freemasonry as a whole. 2) Unless the Masons carrying guns are trained, certified, and have combat training, the addition of guns to any confrontation only adds the possibility of collateral damage at the hands of Masons. 3) Armed lodges threaten the core values of Freemasonry—that we are loyal to humanity and hold a brotherly bond with them; guns are intimidating and dangerous even in an inert state and should be kept separate from Masonic functions in all situations. Giving in to fear only plays into the hands of those who would do us harm.
One last note is that although Brother Wise’s murder is tragic, it is the first reported instance of direct violence against a Mason, while the targets in all other incidents were lodge property. This attack shouldn’t be ignored, however, since it does mark an escalation in the threats present in the US and Canada, and as the number of hate crimes rise, the likelihood of another assault will also rise. Therefore, the best recommendation I have as a security specialist is to practice increased vigilance and open communications with police. If a lodge is suffering harassment, vandalism, or threats, it is imperative that every incident is reported to maintain a case file and increase the likelihood of catching the perpetrator(s) before they may decide to commit more serious crimes. Local and state / provincial police will have the answers for any lodges that would like to know more about how to better protect themselves from hate crimes, and anonymous tiplines are available for anyone who would like to report an incident; phone numbers, and online forms are available on police websites.
