As a well-known business owner in the coastal community of Coos Bay, Oregon, Michael Whitworth Gantenbein is a recognizable man. The 53-year-old has a long, gray bushy beard, and his black flatbed pickup truck is always flying two flags: an American stars and stripes, and a yellow “Don’t Tread on Me” Gadsden flag. Gantenbein’s Coos Bay-located company — Whit Industries — is a local go-to for hydraulics installation and repairs. In recent years, Whit Industries has received a quarter of a million dollars in public contracts from the Port of Coos Bay and other local entities. But Gantenbein isn’t just a hardworking blue-collar business guy. He’s also an active neo-Nazi using his company’s resources to promote hate. One example is Whit Industries’ recruiting of white supremacists to the Coos Bay area — one of Gantenbein’s newest employees is an alleged pedophile from Salem. Michael Whit Gantenbein On September 21, 2024, Gantenbein was identified by Corvallis Antifa as a leader of the Oregon chapter of White Lives Matter, a national Neo-Nazi organization. Designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, White Lives Matter Oregon (WLM-OR) is primarily organized through Telegram, a Russian messaging app commonly used by white supremacists because it lacks moderation. LCRW reviewed Telegram chat logs obtained by Corvallis Antifa, gaining insight into how the group functions. After being vetted by the group’s administrators—Gantenbein and Cruz Dean Walters, a 25-year-old Marine veteran from McMinnville, Oregon—new recruits are added to the WLM-OR group chat. In between long rants about their personal lives and the white power movement, members of the group are encouraged to spread white supremacist propaganda in their communities.
via leftcoastrightwatch: YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK: THE NAZI LEADER BEHIND COOS BAY’S WHIT INDUSTRIES