White supremacist stickers found throughout Columbia County

Stickers for Patriot Front found in 4 towns since May

By Edward Era Barbacena

HUDSON— Stickers promoting a white supremacist group called Patriot Front were found in various public areas in Hudson Tuesday, just four days after stickers from the group were also discovered in Germantown in southern Columbia County.

The discoveries follow at least four other incidents of Patriot Front stickers being found in the county since May.

The Texas-based Patriot Front has engaged in banner drops, rallies, and the distribution of racist and anti-Semitic literature on college campuses since they split away from another racist group, Vanguard America, following the 2017 Charlottesville "Unite the Right" rally, according to the Anti-Defamation League, which lists them as a hate group. 

The scratched-off remains of two Patriot Front stickers were still visible Wednesday morning on the Empire State Trail near Hudson's public dog park.

Germantown Town Supervisor Rob Beaury said he scratched off four Patriot Front stickers near town hall Saturday morning.

It was the third time stickers from the group were found in the town, Beaury said, all within the last two months

The Columbia County Sheriff's Office contacted him about the stickers earlier this week and have opened an investigation, Beaury said.

Beaury said he can't imagine anyone in his community would place such stickers. 

"I want to say these people were coming from out of the area, but I also know better," Beaury said. "The reality of it is every community has people that do things others might not like."

Hate Watch Report, which documents instances of racist propaganda around the Capital Region, lists three other times Patriot Front stickers were recently found in Columbia County. Stickers were found in Chatham in February and May, and in Philmont in February.

Michael Richardson, who produces the Hate Watch Report, described how he felt when he found the first stickers in Chatham.

“I had this emotion inside of me that was something like – oh s***, not these guys,” he said.

Richardson explained Patriot Front is known for "blitzes," where members "wallpaper" communities with stickers and fliers.

That was not the case with the stickers found around Columbia County, Richardson said. The pattern suggested it was one person buying several stickers online at a time, posting them, and then repeating the process later.

However, when Richardson learned of the stickers found in Hudson, he reconsidered his theory. 

"There’s activity there that’s beyond just some teenager getting some stickers and putting them up on signs," he said.

Patriot Front does not have a history of posting stickers or other white supremacist symbols in Columbia County, according to Richardson.

The Columbia County Sheriff's Office did not respond to Times Union calls about the stickers by press time.