Nathan Larson (criminal)

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Nathan Larson
File:Nathan Larson.jpg
Larson on February 11, 2021
Born
Nathan Daniel Larson

(1980-09-19)September 19, 1980
Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S.
DiedSeptember 18, 2022(2022-09-18) (aged 41)
Maricopa County, Arizona, U.S.
Cause of deathSuicide by starvation
EducationGeorge Mason University (BS)
Political partyIndependent (2017–2022)
Libertarian (2004-2017)
MovementWhite supremacy
Conviction(s)Threatening the President of the United States (18 U.S.C. § 871) (2008)
Criminal penalty16 months imprisonment (2009)
Kidnapping-related charges posthumously dismissed

Nathan Daniel Larson (September 19, 1980 – September 18, 2022)[1][2] was an American white supremacist and convicted felon. A self-described "quasi-neoreactionary libertarian" who unsuccessfully ran for public office several times, he was expelled from the Libertarian Party of Virginia in 2017. Larson advocated for curtailing women's rights and decriminalizing child sexual abuse and incest. Larson served fourteen months in prison for the felony of threatening the president of the United States in 2008. In 2020 he was arrested at Denver International Airport for allegedly kidnapping a 12-year-old girl, facing up to life in prison if he was convicted. According to court records, he intended to take her to his home, sexually assault her, and impregnate her. During a search of his home, detectives found evidence suggesting that he operated a website encouraging pedophilia and child rape. Larson died in custody before trial, committing suicide by self-starvation.

Early life and education

Larson was from Charlottesville, Virginia, and lived with his parents in Catlett, Fauquier County.[3] An accountant, Larson earned a degree from George Mason University,[4] where he was a cannabis reform activist.[5]

Career

After graduating from college, Larson became a member of the Libertarian Party.[6] He ran for Congress in Virginia's 1st congressional district during the 2008 election, running on an anarcho-capitalist platform.[7] He received less than 2% of the vote.[8] As a convicted felon, Larson was barred from seeking state office in Virginia from 2009 until Governor Terry McAuliffe restored voting and candidacy rights to thousands of felons in 2016.[7][9][10] The following year he stood as an independent candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates in the 31st district,[9][11][12] again receiving less than 2% of the vote.[7] His candidacy was discussed in the 2017 gubernatorial campaign, with the Republican nominee, Ed Gillespie, using it to criticize McAuliffe's action.[13] Larson was expelled from the Libertarian Party of Virginia early that year.[12][14] In 2018, Larson ran as a "quasi-neoreactionary libertarian" for election to Congress from Virginia's 10th congressional district,[7][3] before withdrawing in August.[15]

Electoral history

Date Election Candidate Party Votes %
Virginia's 1st congressional district
Nov 4, 2008[8] General Robert J. Wittman Republican 203,839 56.6
Bill S. Day, Jr Democratic 150,435 41.8
Nathan D. Larson Libertarian 5,265 1.5
Write-ins 756 nil
Virginia House of Delegates, 31st district
Nov 7, 2017[16] General L. Scott Lingamfelter Republican 12,658 44.2
Elizabeth Guzmán Democratic 15,466 54.0
Nathan D. Larson Independent 481 1.7
Write-ins 39 nil
Virginia's 10th congressional district
Nov 6, 2018[17] General Barbara Comstock Republican 160,841 43.7
Jennifer Wexton Democratic 206,356 56.1
Nathan D. Larson Independent Withdrew
Write-ins 598 0.2

Political positions and online advocacy

File:Nathan Larson Photo.jpg
Larson's campaign photo, 2008

Larson began editing Wikipedia in 2005, initially under his real name. One of his focuses on Wikipedia was reportedly his desire to make taboo or illegal topics, including child sexual abuse, culturally acceptable. Larson ran a large number of sock puppet accounts, which he used to promote positions such as decriminalizing child sexual abuse and argue against Wikipedia's child protection policy. He was blocked in 2008 and later banned from the site entirely; he first moved to Wikiversity, a Wikimedia Foundation project for learning tutorials and academic articles, then to the skeptic wiki RationalWiki. According to Haaretz, he may have been the first person to be banned from RationalWiki.[18] Larson also created Internet chat rooms for self-identified "incels" (involuntarily celibate men) and for pedophiles, incelocalypse.today and suiped.org, and wrote posts on the sites endorsing child rape and describing himself as a "hebephilic rapist".[7] Both sites were removed by the hosting company in late May 2018 after a complaint by the website Babe.net.[7][13][19] Larson told The Huffington Post in response to a question about whether he was actually a pedophile or merely wrote about it online, "It's a mix of both ... When people go over the top there’s a grain of truth to what they say."[4][7] He described the term as "vague" and described men being attracted to underage girls as "normal".[7]

Legal issues

In 2009, Larson pleaded guilty to sending a letter in December 2008 to the U.S. Secret Service threatening to kill the President of the United States. At that time, the message was sent just after Barack Obama was elected president while George W. Bush was still in office, although Larson did not specify which president the threat was for.[20] He was sentenced to sixteen months' imprisonment and three years' supervised release; he served fourteen months.[7][21][9] In March 2017, he described the letter as "an act of civil disobedience".[9] In August 2010, Larson wrote to the federal prosecutor describing the mental health treatment he had received after his conviction as "a complete waste of taxpayer money" since he did not have a mental illness and announced that he would violate the terms of his release from prison: "If you happen to hear the distinctive sound of gunfire of a Solothurn S-18/100 20 mm Anti-Tank Cannon emanating from my backyard, as cardboard cutouts of statist federal politicians, federal judges, federal prosecutors, and federal agents become riddled with large, ragged bullet holes, please know, that there is nothing amiss; it is just me engaging in target practice".[4] At his arraignment on February 25, 2021, Larson pleaded not guilty to the charges and requested to represent himself under Faretta v. California.[22] He was initially represented by attorney Peter M. Jones; in March 2022, Judge Jennifer L. Thurston granted him pro se status and allowed him to represent himself.[23] His pro se status was revoked on March 31 and Jones was re-appointed to represent him for all further proceedings.[24]

Death

Larson died in custody in an Arizona facility on September 18, 2022. On October 11, the indictment against him was dismissed.[2] His cause of death was reported in 2023 as self-starvation.[25]

Notes

References

  1. ↑ "Nathan Larson's Biography". Vote Smart. Archived from the original on June 7, 2018.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Tehee, Joshua (October 17, 2022). "Alleged white supremacist pedophile who groomed 12-year-old Fresno child dies in custody". The Fresno Bee.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Eli Rosenberg (June 3, 2018). "He's pro-incest, pedophilia, and rape. He's also running for Congress from his parents' house". Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 6, 2018.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Virginia congressional candidate Nathan Larson admits he's a pedophile". New York Daily News. June 1, 2018. Archived from the original on June 3, 2018. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
  5. ↑ Michael Victorian (December 19, 2002). "GMU student leader fights to reduce marijuana possession penalties". District Chronicles. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
  6. ↑ "GMU Student Senator Raises Controversy over Marijuana Bill". Libertarian Party of Virginia. November 26, 2002. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.8 Jesselyn Cook; Andy Campbell (June 5, 2018) [May 31, 2018]. "Congressional Candidate In Virginia Admits He's A Pedophile". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on June 7, 2018.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "2008 U.S. House General Election: District 1". Virginia Department of Elections. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Antonio Olivo (March 8, 2017). "He threatened to kill the president. Now he is seeking public office". Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 5, 2018.
  10. ↑ Jill Palermo (February 28, 2017). "Update: Delegate candidate convicted in 2009 of threatening to kill the president". Fauquier Times-Democrat. Archived from the original on March 17, 2018.
  11. ↑ "Independent Nathan Larson seeks 31st District seat". Fauquier Now. November 6, 2017. Archived from the original on July 21, 2018.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Emily Leayman (June 11, 2018). "Pedophile And Hitler Fan Running For Congress Makes Ballot". McLean Patch. Archived from the original on June 13, 2018. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 William Cummings (June 2, 2018) [June 1, 2018]. "Nathan Larson is a pedophile and a white supremacist. And he's running for Congress". USA Today. Archived from the original on June 4, 2018.
  14. ↑ "Statement Regarding Nathan Larson: Libertarian Party of Virginia Censures Potential Candidate" (press release). Libertarian Party of Virginia. February 28, 2017. Archived from the original on June 13, 2018.
  15. ↑ Jill Palermo (August 14, 2018). "Nathan Larson backs Wexton after dropping his controversial bid for Congress, Wexton declines his endorsement". Fauquier Times-Democrat. Archived from the original on October 9, 2018.
  16. ↑ "2017 November General: Official Results". Virginia Department of Elections. December 8, 2017. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018.
  17. ↑ "Certified Candidates in Ballot Order for November 6, 2018 General Election" (PDF). Virginia Department of Elections. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 21, 2018.
  18. ↑ Benjakob, Omer (June 14, 2018). "This Hitler-loving Proud Pedophile Was Too Much of a Troll for Wikipedia, but Not for a Congressional Run". Haaretz. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
  19. ↑ Harry Shukman (May 30, 2018). "How we took down a social network for pedophiles: It was called Incelocalypse". Babe.net. Archived from the original on June 7, 2018.
  20. ↑ "Man Jailed for Threatening to Kill President Considers Run for Office". Roll Call. Nia Prater. March 7, 2017.
  21. ↑ "Boulder man sentenced in presidential threat". Denver Post. October 9, 2009. Archived from the original on June 7, 2018.
  22. ↑ "Transcript of Proceedings as to Nathan Daniel Larson held on 2-25-21 (United States v. Larson)" (PDF). CourtListener. June 10, 2021. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
  23. ↑ "Order Assigning Defendant Pro Per Status (United States v. Larson)" (PDF). CourtListener. June 10, 2021. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
  24. ↑ "MINUTES (Text Only) for proceedings held before District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston: STATUS CONFERENCE as to Nathan Daniel Larson held on 3/31/2022. The defendant Nathan Daniel Larson refused to wear mask in the courtroom. The Court is appointing counsel Peter Jones as counsel of record. Pro se status will be updated forthwith". CourtListener. March 30, 2022. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
  25. ↑ Palma, Sky (January 24, 2023). "Ex-politician and pedophile advocate dies by 'self-starvation' in Arizona prison". Raw Story. Retrieved February 7, 2023.

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