Operation Red Dog
Encyclopedia
Operation Red Dog was the code name of 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, Canadian neo-Nazi Wolfgang Droege
, and Barbadian
weapons smuggler Sydney Burnett-Alleyne. 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
.
The leader Mike Perdue and six other men pleaded guilty to violation of the Neutrality Act
; two others were found guilty by a jury.
The men received three-year prison sentences.
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, shotgun
s, rifle
s, handgun
s, 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 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. 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.
In February 1981, the captain and crew Duke had arranged for 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:
A book about the plot, by Canadian journalist Stewart Bell, was published in August 2008.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
mercenaries, largely affiliated with white supremacist
White supremacy
White supremacy is the belief, and promotion of the belief, that white people are superior to people of other racial backgrounds. The term is sometimes used specifically to describe a political ideology that advocates the social and political dominance by whites.White supremacy, as with racial...
and Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
groups, to overthrow the government of Dominica
Dominica
Dominica , officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island nation in the Lesser Antilles region of the Caribbean Sea, south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its size is and the highest point in the country is Morne Diablotins, which has an elevation of . The Commonwealth...
, where they planned to restore former Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Dominica
The Prime Minister of Dominica is the head of government in the Commonwealth of Dominica. Nominally, the position was created on November 3, 1978 when Dominica gained independence from the United Kingdom...
Patrick John
Patrick John
Colonel Patrick Roland John was the Prime Minister of Dominica as well as the Premier of Dominica. During his premiership Dominica gained independence from the United Kingdom and he became the first Prime Minister of Dominica. He was a successful trade union leader and a mayor of Roseau before...
to power. The chief figures included American Klansman Mike Perdue, Canadian neo-Nazi Wolfgang Droege
Wolfgang Droege
Wolfgang Walter Droege was a Canadian white supremacist, neo-Nazi and founding leader of the Heritage Front.-Early life:...
, and Barbadian
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
weapons smuggler Sydney Burnett-Alleyne. After the plot was thwarted by U.S. federal agents in New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
, the news media dubbed it "Bayou of Pigs", after the failed 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion
Bay of Pigs Invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion was an unsuccessful action by a CIA-trained force of Cuban exiles to invade southern Cuba, with support and encouragement from the US government, in an attempt to overthrow the Cuban government of Fidel Castro. The invasion was launched in April 1961, less than three months...
.
The leader Mike Perdue and six other men pleaded guilty to violation of the Neutrality Act
Neutrality Act of 1794
The Neutrality Act of 1794 made it illegal for an American to wage war against any country at peace with the United States.The Act declared in part:...
; two others were found guilty by a jury.
The men received three-year prison sentences.
History
On April 27, 1981, Droege and eight other men, including Canadian James Alexander McQuirterJames Alexander McQuirter
James Alexander McQuirter was the Grand Wizard on the Canadian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1980s...
and American Don Black, who later founded the white nationalist website Stormfront
Stormfront (website)
Stormfront is a white nationalist and supremacist neo-Nazi Internet forum that has been described as the Internet's first major hate site.Stormfront began as an online bulletin board system in the early 1990s before being established as a website in 1995 by former Ku Klux Klan leader and white...
, were arrested by federal agents in New Orleans as they prepared to board a boat with automatic weapons, shotgun
Shotgun
A shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug...
s, rifle
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
s, handgun
Handgun
A handgun is a firearm designed to be held and operated by one hand. This characteristic differentiates handguns as a general class of firearms from long guns such as rifles and shotguns ....
s, dynamite
Dynamite
Dynamite is an explosive material based on nitroglycerin, initially using diatomaceous earth , or another absorbent substance such as powdered shells, clay, sawdust, or wood pulp. Dynamites using organic materials such as sawdust are less stable and such use has been generally discontinued...
, ammunition
Ammunition
Ammunition is a generic term derived from the French language la munition which embraced all material used for war , but which in time came to refer specifically to gunpowder and artillery. The collective term for all types of ammunition is munitions...
, 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
David Duke
David Ernest Duke is a former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan an American activist and writer, and former Republican Louisiana State Representative. He was also a former candidate in the Republican presidential primaries in 1992, and in the Democratic presidential primaries in...
. That summer, Perdue outlined his plan to overthrow Grenada
Grenada
Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...
and to set up several lucrative businesses. After their meeting, it was established that Droege would locate funds and resources. Duke initially involved Canadian Don Andrews
Don Andrews
Donald Clarke Andrews is a Canadian white supremacist. He is also the leader of the neo-Nazi Nationalist Party of Canada and a perennial candidate for mayor of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.-Early years:...
, 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. Canadian neo-Nazi Martin K. Weiche
Martin K. Weiche
Martin K. Weiche was a far-right neo-Nazi political figure and building contractor in Canada.-Background:Born in Germany, January 6, 1921...
was allegedly a financial backer of the plot along with James White of Houston and L. E. Matthews of Jackson, Mississippi.
In February 1981, the captain and crew Duke had arranged for backed out. Perdue then approached a local boat captain and Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
veteran, Michael S. Howell. Perdue said the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
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
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
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 AfricaSouth AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n 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.
A book about the plot, by Canadian journalist Stewart Bell, was published in August 2008.
See also
- Frederick NewtonFrederick NewtonFrederick Newton was the head of the Dominica Defence Force from its independence in 1978 until 1981. He was executed in 1986 for organising an attempted coup d'état in 1981 that resulted in the death of a police officer....
- Knights of the Golden CircleKnights of the Golden CircleThe Knights of the Golden Circle was a secret society. Some researchers believe the objective of the KGC was to prepare the way for annexation of a golden circle of territories in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean for inclusion in the United States as slave states...
- Golden Circle (Slavery)Golden Circle (slavery)The Golden Circle was a pan-Caribbean political alliance inspired by the Burr conspiracy, in the 1850s that would have included many countries into a United States-like federal union. The Golden Circle was centered in Havana and was 2,400 miles in diameter...
- Nine Nations of North AmericaNine Nations of North AmericaThe Nine Nations of North America is a book written in 1981 by Joel Garreau. In it, Garreau suggests that North America can be divided into nine regions, or "nations", which have distinctive economic and cultural features...