#Frank Moffer

[newyorkthegoldenage]

Nazis or neo-Nazis are not a 21st century phenomenon in the U.S. This man, Frank Moffer, was a captain in the "Khaki Shirts" of Art J. Smith. Smith promoted himself as a dashing figure who flew bomber planes for Pancho Villa and served as Kerensky's aide in Russia. Until he embraced fascism, newspapers swallowed his stories whole and found him a colorful, harmless figure.

Smith registered the Khaki Shirts as a corporation and charged for membership, clothing, and expenses--the more they paid, the higher their rank in his army. He claimed to have 2,000 members in the tri-state area and an artillery of weapons of war. (This was probably as truthful as his claims of an adventurous past.)

In July, 1933, Smith staged a rally in Astoria that was infiltrated by supporters of Carlo Tresca, an anti-fascist leader (see this post). One of them was shot dead, and the Khakis tried to pin the murder on Athos Terzani, a colleague of the dead man. Bizarrely, the police arrested him. His trial became a leftist cause celebre, with Tresca and Norman Thomas organizing Terzani's defense.

The prosecution's case crumbled when Smith changed his story and another witness recanted his earlier testimony. Terzani was acquitted and Smith's bodyguard, Moffer (pictured above in court on February 13, 1934), confessed to the shooting. Smith was convicted of perjury and faded into obscurity.

Photo: Associated Press