The First 'Former'      

This is the first of three stories involving "formers," 

people formerly in hate groups, as reported in WORLD digital. 

   Tim Zaal grew up in a predominately white section of Los Angeles. Both parents worked, leaving him home alone. He felt "out of place" in school.

   Tim found friendship in a loud, violent punk-music group - his "tribe" - in the 1980's. 

   After the others graduated and went off in new directions, Tim drove to San Diego to meet Tom Metzger, leader of the White Aryan Resistance (WAR), a neo-Nazi group. He read their literature and became a believer. 

   He and others harassed gays, minorities, Jews...and once chased a frightened black Girl Scout. After they attacked an Iranian couple, wrongly assuming they were Jewish, Tim was sentenced to a year in jail.

   Hate had become exhausting, however. He realized his wife was beyond radical when she said she would "kill our son if he had a drop of non-white blood." 

   Meanwhile, Tim worked in his job with non-whites who were friendly and respectful. There is always "somebody" who makes a difference when a hater sees the light. 

   Tim has been married to a Jewish wife for 20 years, and his son did not follow the way of hate. He says of Charlottesville: "Ordinary Americans...same hate and theories, simplistic answers that lead to terrorism." 

   Social media makes it much easier for troubled people to connect, to join echo chambers affirming worldviews, he says. It is easy to voice prejudices and groom others over the internet. 

   Church involvement is important, but not a guarantee. The teenager who attacked a San Diego synagogue was a member of a conservative evangelical church. 

Tomorrow: The "Nazi kid"

       Jimmy