As an antifascist infiltrator secretly recorded their phone calls in September, most members of Oregon鈥檚 White Lives Matter chapter used aliases.
But not Whit.
Whit used racial slurs, argued for the superiority of the Nazis鈥� 鈥渘ational socialism鈥� over capitalism and declared 鈥渢here were so many positives to what Hitler was doing,鈥� including 鈥渨hen he eliminated the Jew鈥� 鈥� and he used the same nickname he used in public.
He doesn鈥檛 have a private life, he told other members of the group, in recordings leaked to InvestigateWest.
鈥淵ou guys know everything about me,鈥� Whit said. 鈥淵ou know my company names. You know my real name. You can find my address.鈥�
He even named the specific street where he lives in Coos Bay.
Coos County records show there are fewer than 30 properties along that street 鈥� and one of them is owned by Michael Whitworth Gantenbein. But everyone in Coos Bay knows Gantenbein, owner of the hydraulic repair business Whit Industries, as Whit.
What the Port of Coos Bay didn鈥檛 know until September, Port Commission President Kyle Stevens said, was that Gantenbein 鈥� whose company they鈥檇 paid hundreds of thousands of dollars 鈥� was allegedly part of a white nationalist group.
Since then Stevens has seen emails 鈥� and read blog posts and Reddit threads and listened to a podcast episode 鈥� accusing Gantenbein of being second-in-command of the now-defunct Oregon chapter of White Lives Matter, a national organization established as a neo-Nazi counterpoint to the Black Lives Matter movement. Gantenbein did not return a phone call from InvestigateWest, but denied the allegations to The Oregonian.
To confirm Gantenbein鈥檚 involvement with White Lives Matter, however, InvestigateWest reviewed photographs, public records and hours of raw audio calls between White Lives Matter members. The calls were provided by an anonymous source identifying himself as an infiltrator from Corvallis Antifa, a group of left-wing activists who aim to expose and dismantle white supremacist groups.
Across hours of conversations, the group debated the optics of Nazi salutes, accused each other of being federal agents or gay, and praised Whit鈥檚 plans to recruit more white nationalists to Coos Bay to work for him and potentially run for office.
Newspaper articles and court records examined by InvestigateWest show that Gantenbein moved to Oregon from across the country to escape criminal drug charges, and there鈥檚 still a warrant out for his arrest in Louisiana.
Now Stevens, who became president of the port commission in October, feels flanked by bad options. The Port of Coos Bay has repeatedly hired Whit Industries as a contractor for painting equipment and repairing the hydraulics throughout the port.
Critics, led by the Western States Center, a nonprofit that tracks extremism, have mounted a campaign to get the port to cut ties with the company, which is one of few in the area qualified to perform the kind of hydraulic repair work that鈥檚 crucial for the region鈥檚 shipping and fishing industries.
鈥淭his situation raises significant concerns, not only about public funds potentially going to an active supporter of the neo-Nazi movement, but also about the broader impact Gantenbein鈥檚 views could have on port operations, political power and community safety in the region,鈥� Western States Center said in a news release.
If port officials continue using taxpayer dollars to hire Gantenbein, they risk national outrage and reputational damage. But if the port cuts Gantenbein off, it could enrage the fishing community, lose a difficult-to-replace vendor at the port, and risk triggering a legal challenge.
It鈥檚 a dilemma that Stevens has spoken about with the legal staff and other governmental agencies in the region. Since the First Amendment protects hate speech, 鈥測ou would have to show that it didn't fall into some protected First Amendment or free speech or protected activity, even if it was something you personally found vile,鈥� Stevens said.
It鈥檚 a conundrum between a government鈥檚 desire to stand up against bigotry, the constitutional protections for free speech, and economic realities that could threaten the future of the port itself.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a delicate tightrope,鈥� Stevens said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 specific training for something like this.鈥�
鈥榃hit is a really big part鈥�
In , Gantenbein denied being a part of White Lives Matter or having any racist ideology.
At a Port Commission meeting last month, several members of the fishing community defended Whit as 鈥渘othing but great for our community,鈥� and dismissed the reports as merely 鈥渞umors鈥� and 鈥淔acebook BS.鈥�
The fact that the accusation came anonymously from Corvallis Antifa doesn鈥檛 necessarily help in a conservative-leaning county.
But for the Western States Center, it鈥檚 hard to argue with all the damning social media messages, voice recordings and photographs that Corvallis Antifa released.
鈥淚 have to figure it鈥檚 a lot more work to falsify all of this evidence than for it to be real,鈥� said Kate Bitz, an organizer with the center. 鈥淧eople would have to be very determined to pull the wool over our eyes in pursuit of this one guy.鈥�
Lending credibility to the authenticity of the recordings, Whit wasn鈥檛 the only White Lives Matter member that InvestigateWest recognized from the audio. Portland area neo-Nazi Casey Knuteson, who InvestigateWest , for example, can be heard on the recordings going by his longtime alias Alfred.
In the audio, other members praise Whit for creating White Lives Matter banners, producing White Lives Matter T-shirts and driving hours from Coos Bay to attend White Lives Matter events.
鈥淲hit is a big part of our operations 鈥� whether it鈥檚 the driving, whether it鈥檚 the banners, whether it鈥檚 the uniformity 鈥� Whit is a really big part,鈥� one member said.
In the leaked recordings, Whit sometimes talked in detail about personal things, such as his mother鈥檚 illness and putting down a dog he had for 17 years. His voice, a distinctive gravelly rasp, sounded identical to the one on Gantenbein鈥檚 outgoing voicemail message when InvestigateWest called for comment. And it sounded identical to Gantenbein鈥檚 voice on a YouTube clip uploaded this summer, where he told a that 鈥渋t鈥檚 a bummer鈥� that Hitler is dead and that he votes for him.
To that, add videos and photographic evidence: A White Lives Matter propaganda video from September shows activists in white masks riding on a flatbed truck that looks identical to Gantenbein鈥檚 distinctive truck, right down to the American and 鈥淒on鈥檛 Tread On Me鈥� flags.
Another photo, taken by an Associated Press photographer, appears to show Gantenbein鈥檚 scraggly white beard sticking out from his mask as the group waved a Nazi flag and placed banners above a Portland overpass. Then there鈥檚 the unmasked photo where he鈥檚 having lunch at the Corvallis Burgerville with the alleged leader of the local Oregon chapter of White Lives Matter.
In The Oregonian, Gantenbein admitted the photograph was genuine 鈥� but claimed that he 鈥渨alked away immediately鈥� when he found out what the meeting was about.
Stevens said he thinks the voice on the recordings sounds like Gantenbein鈥檚. The photographs look like him. The truck looks like his. But he鈥檚 cautious about declaring it with 100% certainty.
鈥淚t would have been easier if there was a situation like this, and it was a police charge,鈥� Stevens said. 鈥淪omething that wasn鈥檛 as anonymous.鈥�
Few in Coos Bay are aware that there have been police charges against Gantenbein 鈥� a background check showed that Gantenbein fled justice to come to Coos Bay to begin with.
In January 2007, from the time show that he and his dad were pulled over by Louisiana State Police while towing a vehicle. Police found 369 pounds of marijuana in the vehicle they were towing and a gram of cocaine. Gantenbein admitted to police the cocaine was his.
His Goodyear tire shop in North Carolina was shuttered for failure to pay taxes a few days later. His dad was fired as the planning and zoning director of a small North Carolina town the day after that. Both faced 10 to 60 years in prison if convicted.
But their court cases shuddered to a halt in 2008, when Gantenbein disappeared. A warrant was issued for his arrest on the felony charge of failure to appear.
Gantenbein鈥檚 LinkedIn account indicates he moved across the country that year and remade his life in Coos Bay. His dad skipped town in 2010, according to a newspaper account, and today owns a property next to Gantenbein鈥檚 house in Coos Bay.
InvestigateWest confirmed with St. Tammany Parish in Louisiana that the warrants for Gantenbein and his father are still active.
鈥榁颈别飞辫辞颈苍迟-苍别耻迟谤补濒鈥�
Personally, Stevens said he passionately opposes all forms of racism. He鈥檚 donated to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the legal activist organization that calls White Lives Matter a hate group.
But pushing back against extremism can be complicated.
It鈥檚 not illegal to celebrate Hitler or be a part of a white supremacist group like White Lives Matter. It can be illegal for the government to punish a contractor over it.
When the government hires a contractor, it typically has to be 鈥渧iewpoint-neutral,鈥� said Adam Steinbaugh, an attorney for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a legal advocacy group that has defended the free speech rights of controversial figures across the political spectrum.
鈥淚t cannot discriminate based on someone having the wrong ideology or the wrong views,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat includes views that people would see as hateful or bigoted.鈥�
The same constitutional principles that FIRE cited to stop Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis from banning trainings with 鈥減ro-Black Lives Matter types of views,鈥� he noted, protects speech on the radical other end of the political spectrum.
The chance that the white supremacist views of a contractor could cost the port significant business or trigger boycotts isn鈥檛 a viable constitutional reason to reject a contractor either, he said.
But while offensive speech is typically protected, Steinbaugh said, conduct often isn鈥檛.
鈥淭he government can鈥檛 really discriminate on the basis of viewpoint, but it can generally require that the people it contracts with don鈥檛 discriminate in their employment practices,鈥� Steinbaugh said.
Last month, the Port Commission passed an official non-discrimination policy, stipulating that contractors would be barred from discriminating against anyone based on 鈥渞ace, color, or national origin.鈥�
鈥淲e will not be engaging in any future business dealings with any entity that violates our strict policies,鈥� Stevens later told InvestigateWest.
Gantenbein told The Oregonian that he employs 鈥減eople of color鈥� and, according to Stevens, stressed to the port 鈥渢hat he keeps his personal life separate from his professional life.鈥�
But the recordings shared with InvestigateWest show that Whit not only actively recruited members of White Lives Matter to work for him, he used the low number of Black people in the area as a selling point.
鈥淲hit offered me a job,鈥� one member said. 鈥淪o I鈥檓 moving to Coos Bay at the end of the month, and I鈥檓 pretty excited about it.鈥�
鈥淵ou鈥檙e gonna come down here and not see (slur) and shit anymore,鈥� Whit responded, using a racial slur for Black people. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e gonna be like, 鈥極h, my God, look at all the white people.鈥欌��
A comment like that, the Western States Center's Kate Bitz said, could have a major impact on a discrimination case.
鈥淚f someone鈥檚 explaining how they engage in hiring only a specific group of people as much as they can 鈥� that group being white nationalists 鈥� what you鈥檙e dealing with is a business that really can鈥檛 be trusted to serve its customers very well,鈥� Bitz said.
鈥楥aught off guard聽聽聽聽
Since 2015, according to Stevens, nearly $300,000 of port contract work has gone to Whit Industries. Information for Public Use, a coalition of researchers in Oregon, used record requests to show that other local governments have used Whit Industries as well, including contracts worth more than $2,500 paid by Coos County and more than $13,000 paid by the City of North Bend.
鈥淚 think everybody was kind of in the same spot, kind of caught off guard trying to figure out what to do,鈥� Stevens said of allegations against Gantenbein.
Finding someone else to do that work can be tough. Coos Bay is a coastal community built on timber, an industry that has collapsed in the last three decades, whittled away by environmental regulations and competition from foreign imports.
Much of that logging equipment relied on hydraulics, and less logging meant fewer hydraulic repair shops to service them. Whit Industries faces less competition than it once did.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been shopping around just trying to see what鈥檚 out there,鈥� Stevens said. 鈥淚鈥檝e heard from the Port of Umpqua they have somebody up in that direction.鈥�
This fall, it looked like Gantenbein was poised to have even more influence. The owner of Giddings Boatworks 鈥� the boat repair shop that gave Gantenbein a job in 2008 after he moved across the country 鈥� was considering selling to Whit Industries.
Earlier this month, Western States Center wrote a letter, signed by a coalition of environmental activists and union members, urging port commissioners to oppose a new lease for Giddings Boatworks if it sold to Whit Industries, worried it would effectively hand control of the infrastructure of the port鈥檚 Charlottesville Marina to a white nationalist.
In their letter, the Western States Center recognized the tough situation that the port faced.
鈥淭he answers lie in investing in and supporting the needs of the fishing community in ways that expand the pool of viable services at the port, not concentrating them in the hands of one person who presents a potential risk to the future of our port,鈥� the center wrote.
Amid the controversy, Stevens said, the owner of Giddings Boatworks 鈥渃alled the CEO of the port and let her know that there was not a sale on the horizon.鈥�
Other shipyards in the area have already shut down. To some in the fishing community at last month鈥檚 port meeting, Gantenbein represented not only a way to help keep Giddings afloat, but to, over the long term, turn it into an 鈥渦pdated, thriving, productive shipyard.鈥�
But the voice recordings shared by Corvallis Antifa indicate that Gantenbein鈥檚 dreams for the transformation of Coos Bay go beyond upgrading port services. In recordings, White Lives Matter members talk about Whit's desire to recruit more white nationalists to Coos Bay, to create a 鈥渓ocked-down鈥� compound with 鈥�24/7 security,鈥� and to 鈥渢ry to have our guys run for mayor, city council and other high occupational jobs within the government.鈥�
Bitz said white nationalists often have a goal of trying to "transform one single town according to their exclusionary, bigoted idea for how a world should be.鈥濃�淭hat often presents a really serious threat to people鈥檚 safety locally in these towns and to local economies,鈥� she said.
InvestigateWest (invw.org) is an independent news nonprofit dedicated to investigative journalism in the Pacific Northwest. A Report for America corps member, Daniel Walters covers democracy and extremism across the region. He can be reached at daniel@invw.org.