Operation Red Dog
Operation Red Dog was the code name of a plan by Canadian and American mercenaries, largely affiliated with white supremacist and Ku Klux Klan groups, to overthrow the government of Dominica, where they planned to restore former Prime Minister Patrick John to power. The chief figures included American Klansman Mike Perdue, German-Canadian neo-Nazi Wolfgang Droege, and Barbadian weapons smuggler Sydney Burnett-Alleyne.[1] After the plot was thwarted by U.S. federal agents in New Orleans, Louisiana, the news media dubbed it "Bayou of Pigs", after the failed 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion.[1]
The leader Mike Perdue and six other men pleaded guilty to violation of the Neutrality Act; two others were found guilty by a jury.[2] The men received three-year prison sentences.[3]
History
On April 27, 1981, Droege and eight other men, including Canadian James Alexander McQuirter and American Don Black, who later founded the white nationalist website Stormfront, were arrested by federal agents in New Orleans as they prepared to board a boat with automatic weapons, shotguns, rifles, handguns, dynamite, ammunition, and a black and white Nazi flag.
The plan was to charter a boat to Dominica and rendezvous via rubber boats with John and his makeshift army. The genesis of the idea came from long-time Klan member Perdue, who was introduced in 1979 to Droege through David Duke. That summer, Perdue outlined his plan to overthrow Grenada and to set up several lucrative businesses. After their meeting, it was established that Droege would locate funds and resources. Duke initially involved Croatian-Canadian Don Andrews, but after Perdue changed the target island to Dominica, Andrews withdrew. Klansmen Arnie Polli and Roger Dermee were paid US $3,000 to visit Dominica to obtain preliminary reconnaissance. German-Canadian neo-Nazi Martin K. Weiche was allegedly a financial backer of the plot along with James White of Houston and L. E. Matthews of Jackson, Mississippi.[4]
In February 1981, the captain and crew Duke had arranged, backed out. Perdue then approached a local boat captain and Vietnam War veteran, Michael S. Howell. Perdue said the Central Intelligence Agency needed his boat for a covert operation. Howell then contacted the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF). On April 25, John was arrested in Dominica. When Perdue learned of the arrest and that their plans were no longer secret, he insisted that the mission should continue. On April 27, the group, including three ATF agents, met at the predetermined location, loaded the van and proceeded to the marina. Local police were waiting for them at the marina.
In 1984, during an interview by Barbados's daily Nation Newspaper Sydney Burnett-Alleyne was asked if the group had planned to overthrow the government of Barbados and install John as prime minister there as well. He responded:
- He could have become prime minister, although that was not the real reason behind my plan of action. I wanted to add the land mass of Dominica to that of Barbados and also to be able to undertake an industrial project of considerable size. South African resources, millions of dollars, were available to me to be used for such a project. But Patrick John didn't do what was supposed to have done. But more than that, I became incensed when I found out he was giving away Dominican land to Americans. He lost an important opportunity to be a central figure in the history of the Caribbean.[5]
A book about the plot, by Canadian journalist Stewart Bell, was published in August 2008.[6]
Further reading
- Frühling, Hugo; Tulchin, Joseph S. (2003). "Dominica and Other Early Cases". Crime and violence in Latin America: citizen security, democracy, and the state. Woodrow Wilson Center Press. pp. Pgs. 239–241. ISBN 0-8018-7384-3. Retrieved 2009-10-04.
- Baker, Patrick L. (1994). "Politics". Centring the periphery: chaos, order, and the ethnohistory of Dominica. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. pp. Pgs. 182–186. ISBN 0-7735-1134-2. Retrieved 2009-10-04.
- "Bayou of Pigs - A coup that fizzled". Time Magazine. Time Inc. 1981-05-11. Retrieved 2009-10-04.
- Staff Writer (1984-04-02). "Interview with former arms dealer, Mercenary Leader". Barbados Nation Newspaper (February 13, 1984). US Military Intelligence - Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC). pp. Pgs. 20–24. Retrieved 2008-01-01.
- Gane-McCalla, Casey (2012-01-20). "Implicated In Failed White Supremacist Island Invasion". newsone. Retrieved 2012-01-23.
See also
- Frederick Newton
- Golden Circle (Slavery)
- Knights of the Golden Circle
- Ku Klux Klan in Canada
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 A, C (October 4, 2006). "Tull: Tell us about coup rumours". Nation Newspaper. Archived from the original on 2009-10-04. Retrieved 2009-10-04.
- ↑ "2 GUILTY IN NEW ORLEANS FOR PLOT ON DOMINICA INVASION", The New York Times, June 21, 1981
- ↑ "KLANSMEN GET 3-YEAR TERMS", Boston Globe, July 23, 1981
- ↑ Associated Press, "Named at trial over coup bid, lawyer kills self", The Globe and Mail, June 23, 1981
- ↑ Staff Writer (1984-04-02). "Interview with former arms dealer, Mercenary Leader". Barbados Nation Newspaper (February 13, 1984). US Military Intelligence - Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC). pp. Pgs. 20–24. Retrieved 2008-01-01.
- ↑ Bayou of Pigs: The True Story of an Audacious Plot to Turn a Tropical Island into a Criminal Paradise, by Stewart Bell, John Wiley&Sons, 2008.