Morning Briefing: White Nationalists Building 'Whites Only Community' in Arkansas

Return to the Land, a neo-fascist White Nationalist movement, is building a 'Whites only community' community in Arkansas — with plans to build similar communities in the South and Appalachia.

Return to the Land’s logo was inspired by Norse mythology. (Image: Sky News)

Morning Briefing: In the Ozarks region of northern Arkansas, there’s a settle which “sprawls over 160 acres” which is part of Return to the Land (RTTL), a neo-fascist White Nationalist movement which builds communities exclusively for “individuals and families with traditional views and European ancestry.”

However, on social media, RTTL has repeatedly stated explicitly that the community in Arkansas is “Whites only.” The group’s newsletter explains that it is a “private club that is exclusive in its membership criteria,” and that potential members must complete an application form—followed by a video interview.

Eric Orwoll, the founder of RTTL who is known online as Aarvoll, has significant connections to other prominent White Nationalists. Orwoll has been interviewed in videos published by Thomas Rousseau, the founder of the neo-fascist White Nationalist group Patriot Front, and Nick Fuentes, the antisemitic White Supremacist propagandist behind the Groyper movement.

There are currently two communities founded by RTTL in Arkansas, and another community in the Ozarks region is “currently in the initial planning process.” The group also claims that a community in the Deep South and two communities in Appalachia are also “currently in the initial planning process.”

RTTL has reportedly “invested tens of thousands of dollars in legal research and believes that it has created a viable framework for many more communities to come. The group claims that because it is a private members only club, this provides the group the legal ability to “circumvent civil rights legislation, such as the Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, colour, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, and disability.”

In recent years, Arkansas has attracted other White Supremacists. Jon Minadeo, the founder of the antisemitic neo-Nazi White Supremacist group Goyim Defense League (GDL), also recently moved to Arkansas, and has reportedly partnered with Billy Roper, founder of the White Supremacist group the Shield Wall Network (SWN).

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