Alleged Neo-Nazi leader arrested in Arizona; accused of assault, threatening to kill Black men

CHANDLER, Ariz. — A Florida man believed to be the leader of a prominent Neo-Nazi group was arrested in Chandler, Arizona, on Monday on suspicion of threatening a group of Black men at gunpoint in a hotel parking lot.

Burt Colucci, 45, of Lakeland, Florida, has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after the men told police that he threw trash in their car, used racial slurs and pulled a gun on them, KNXV reported.

No shots were fired during the confrontation, the TV station reported.

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The alleged assault occurred at a Hilton hotel, two days after Colucci participated in a National Socialist Movement rally in Phoenix. He identified himself to police as the group’s commander, which he described as a “white civil rights group,” KPHO reported.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has designated the NSM a hate group, the Neo-Nazi organization was founded in Detroit in 1994. Its membership swelled to become the largest in the nation through the 2000s and the 2010s, but its numbers have dwindled significantly since 2015, and its former leader, Jeff Schoep, remains a defendant in the Sines v. Kessler civil trial, targeting those who planned and promoted the deadly 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Meanwhile, the Chandler confrontation began when police responded at around 8:30 a.m. Monday to multiple calls reporting a group of white men and Black men arguing in the hotel’s parking lot. By the time officers arrived, however, the Black men had driven away, leaving Colucci and a second unidentified white man to provide accounts.

Police say Colucci told officers that the vehicle occupied by the Black men pulled in front of him in the parking lot and that they began tossing trash out of the car. He told officers that an argument started when he confronted them about the trash and that they claimed to be armed, but he never saw a weapons, KPHO reported.

Colucci also told officers that he did take out his gun but never pointed it directly at any one person. He then said the Black men pulled behind his truck and threw things at him, prompting his to spray a chemical irritant into their car before they drove away, the TV station reported.

Court records obtained by KPHO indicated that both sides hurled racial slurs during the confrontation. Because only one side of the story could be obtained, however, no arrests were made at that time.

Several hours later the Black men contacted Chandler police to provide their account of the incident. One of the victims told police that Colucci “began throwing trash on their car, using racial slurs, and threatened to kill him and the group he was with,” KNXV reported.

Meanwhile, a separate witness told police that she saw Colucci point the gun, and the police report indicated Colucci’s gun was loaded at the time of the confrontation, KPHO reported.

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