Notorious white supremacist Jacob Laskey, first known for an anti-Semitic attack on Eugene’s Temple Beth Israel in 2002, and later for a stabbing and videos espousing racist viewpoints, is out of prison.
Because of a court order, Laskey is legally prohibited from palling around with his white supremacist friends, though that hasn’t stopped him in the past. Laskey was released in August, but President Donald Trump’s refusal to repudiate white supremacy and his statement to the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” have called attention to Laskey’s possible return to the community. He has been released but it is unclear where he is at this time.
On Jan. 19, 2018, Laskey was arrested for stabbing fellow American Front member Devin Reid Wolf, 42, of Eugene. He pled guilty Sept. 10 of that year to fourth-degree assault and unlawful use of a weapon and was sentenced to 30 months at a state correctional institution. American Front is a racist skinhead group. The Proud Boys coat their white supremacy in veneer of “Western chauvinism.”
On Feb. 7, Laskey was transferred from Oregon State Correctional Institute to federal prison. He served six months federal and was released on Aug. 6, according to the Bureau of Prisons.
In 2005, Laskey was convicted of a 2002 hate crime against Eugene’s Temple Beth Israel, as well as for threatening to kill a witness in 2004. According to the grand jury charges, Laskey and four others conspired to threaten the Jewish community by throwing rocks engraved with Nazi swastikas and breaking windows at the temple while a service was in progress.
Laskey spent 11 years in prison and was released in 2015. The court also ordered Laskey to pay Temple Beth Israel $896 in restitution.
A Department of Justice press release from his 2007 conviction said, “the defendant is a self-avowed white supremacist who admitted that he sought to commit acts of violence and destruction against Jews, African-Americans, and members of other ethnic and racial groups, when such opportunities arose. In August 2006, Laskey pleaded guilty to conspiracy to deprive individuals of their civil rights, intentionally damaging religious property, solicitation to murder witnesses, soliciting a bomb threat against the federal courthouse in Eugene, two counts of obstruction of justice, and being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.”
Laskey already had restrictions from the 2002 hate crime, such as no contact with other white supremacists, prohibited alcohol consumption and entry of locations like bars, and mandatory mental health treatment. Those restrictions were to be followed three years after his 2015 release.
After the January 2019 stabbing and two other violations, more restrictions were added. According to court documents filed June 2019, he is prohibited from consuming alcohol, must take all prescriptions prescribed by a physician, cannot communicate with other white supremacists, cannot possess white supremacy content and remove previously published material, participate in a cognitive-behavioral treatment program — and more. These restrictions are to be followed for 30 months after his Aug. 5 release.
After Laskey’s 2015 release from prison, he had a YouTube channel associated with his family’s Wolfclan Armory and had several social media accounts, where he would rant about Antifa and “social justice warriors.” Laskey called himself an “anti-Antifa supremacist. Laskey was featured in a Eugene Weekly cover story on Antifa. He retaliated by burning a stack of EW newspapers.
He was also an administrator for American Front’s Twitter account and would post racist content. Laskey has the words “white power” tattooed on his face.
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