Louisville, Kentucky Residents: Meet Local Racist, White Nationalist Michael Burks
The Coalition of Anti-Racists in Louisville (CARL) would like to wish local chud Michael Burks a very Merry Doxxmas.
Content Warning: This doxx contains racist, sexist, Islamophobic, and homophobic language.
Name: Michael Burks
Aliases: The Jerk of Kentucky (former Twitter handle), Dale Mayer (Facebook account), and Tomas O’Leary; admin of “Mentally Ill Louisville Leftists” and “Kentucky Marxists”
White Nationalist, Racist Affiliations: Imperial Klans of America (IKA), White Revolution, Knights Party (the Ku Klux Klan), the American National Socialist Workers Party (the US Nazi Party), the Three Percenters, and the Proud Boys
Place of Employment: Liquor Barn — Bashford Manor
3614 Buechel Bypass, Louisville, KY 40205
Work Phone Number: 502–459–8989
Car: Buick Rendezvous (light grey with black and white Against the Grain sticker — see images)
Plate Number — 801-TPG
Meet Louisville, KY white nationalist Michael Burks. Burks loves to doxx individuals and expose their identity and personal information if they post anti-racist, pro-Black Lives Matter content on social media platforms. He also frequently doxxes anyone he suspects of being on the political Left or in Louisville. Since he’s a fan of doxxing, we thought we’d give Burks a taste of his own medicine. If you are one of the individuals whose identity Burks exposed for the purpose of causing harm, we thought you might find all of this information pertinent.
Burks’ extensive past in the world of racist, white nationalist organizations informs his present mind state: Burks shows no sign of remorse and has been empowered by the Trump presidency, MAGA movement. This says both a lot about the meaning of the Trump presidency, and about Burks.
We also believe many people Burks knows casually (coworkers, acquaintances, bartenders, etc.) may be unaware that he is a racist, white nationalist who spends his time posting hate on the Internet when he’s not attempting to expose the identity of local social and racial justice activists to fellow right-wing extremists.
Most recently, Burks has been affiliated with the local Proud Boys branch (see images), a group highly supportive of Trump. The Proud Boys, categorized by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group, attempt to hide their homophobia, misogyny, and bigotry (not very well) behind proclaiming to support “traditional” and “Western” values.
Burks and other Proud Boys were directly involved with the assault on members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) at the Silver Dollar restaurant in Louisville in 2018. Burks was also joined by friends associated with the Three Percenters and American Guard, which are also white nationalist groups. Burks alluded to his role in pepper-spraying unsuspecting DSA meeting attendees on his Facebook page. Burks stated that he “crashed a meeting. They waited until we left and then claimed we shot them with pepper spray. Their little feelings got hurt.”
This is, of course, a lie: Countless attendees and staff of the Silver Dollar can speak to the fact that Burks and his cowardly assortment of racist buddies ambushed and pepper-sprayed unsuspecting meeting attendees. To the Silver Dollar’s credit and Burk’s own admission on social media, he is banned from the restaurant as a response to this incident.
Michael Burks frequently peddles in Islamophobia, like many fellow white nationalists. In January of 2020, Michael Burks insulted the Louisville Muslim community on his Facebook page. He said the following: “Why is Islam a problem? Inbreeding. Let me say it again. Islam is radical due to sister f**king.” We think our Muslim neighbors, coworkers, friends, and family have a right to know how Burks regards them.
We doubt Burks’ employer is aware that he has a public platform espousing these views. We’ll be surprised if these are values shared by his employer, Liquor Barn (see above for address and contact information of his precise work location). There’s no indication that they are.
Burks likes to hang out at the Irish Rover frequently. This is intriguing, as the owners have made it clear that fascists and racists aren’t welcome at the Rover.
39-year-old Michael Burks spent his 20’s attempting to make a name for himself in Kentucky’s white supremacist/fascist scene. In one of Burks’ blogs, he admits he has been a member of the following white supremacist groups: Imperial Klans of America (IKA), White Revolution, Knights Party (the KKK), and the American National Socialist Workers Party (the US Nazi Party). He boasts about his affiliation with the Proud Boys in Louisville on his Facebook page. While he has grifted through many groups — some in leadership roles, like the US Nazi Party — the common thread is his hatred of women, the BIPOC community, the LGBTQ community, Muslims, and anyone willing to stand in solidarity with these communities.
Burks really enjoys posing with firearms in pictures. Below, you’ll see him threatening Black Lives Matter activists and organizers — he refers to them as “terrorists,” common amongst fellow white nationalists. He seems to be concerned they’re going to rob him (I guess at his defunct business flophouse?). In this image, he dons the casual racist’s cap of choice: the MAGA hat.
In many white supremacist groups, Burks is regarded poorly. He is known as a snitch that cooperates with law enforcement in these spaces. Like many neo-nazis, Klansmen, and other racists, Burks is very pro-police — many of them, in fact, are the police. Imagine being a failure even amongst the likes of neo-nazis and Klansmen — the lowest of the low. Even they don’t want to claim him as their own.
Despite his lack of popularity with some fellow right-wing extremists, Michael Burks’ presence on a favorite neo-nazi Internet meeting hub, Stormfront, is easy to find and is self-explanatory. If one simply googles “Michael Burks Stormfront,” his litany of posts will pop up. His posts defend Adolf Hitler, amongst other things. In one post (see images), he argues that slavery was a positive development for Africans in the US — a common racist trope. See some of his doozies from the comments section of Stormfront below.
People can change and renounce their misguided and reprehensible past as Nazis — many even go on to become committed anti-racists. However, Burks shows no sign of abandoning his white supremacist philosophy. These days, he attempts to dress up his fascism in a different outfit. Like many current hatemongers, he hides in the cloak of “patriotism” and small government conservatism. He has traded his Klan hood for the MAGA hat.
One glimpse at any of Burks’ current or banned social media platforms (his personal page on Facebook, the Jerk of Kentucky on Twitter, the Tomas O’Leary account on Facebook, and the Dale Mayer account on Facebook) reveals that his racism, transphobia, homophobia, sexism, and Islamophobia have not been tampered at all. If anything, his hateful ideology has been channeled and amplified.
As mentioned, Burks is works at the Liquor Barn Bashford Manor location (see above for phone number and address). We are asking Louisvillians and others reading this to contact the Liquor Barn corporate office and demand that Michael Burks be terminated immediately. Call or email and demand that Michael Burks be fired. We presume Burks’ white nationalist values do not align with those of Liquor Barn. Employing him makes Liquor Barn an unsafe space for employees and customers who are Black, people of color, LGBTQ, Muslim, or Jewish. Demand that Liquor Barn not harbor local racists and do the right thing by swiftly firing Michael Burks. Urge Liquor Barn to do right by Louisville.
On social media platforms, Burks hints at a desire to commit violence against peaceful protesters affiliated with Black Lives Matter and anti-racists affiliated with the protests opposing the police killing of Breonna Taylor. He is also armed. For this reason, Michael Burks makes any public space unsafe in Louisville. While Burks is a coward who prefers to hide his hate behind a computer screen, he is still not welcome in these spaces.
Since he enjoys going out and having a drink (particularly bourbon, it seems), we would ask that all establishments in Louisville follow the lead of the Silver Dollar and permanently ban, or “86,” him. We are also asking anti-racist citizens to contact the Irish Rover specifically to ask them to ban Burks, as his presence contradicts the stated values of the owners (they were one of many local establishments to recently place a “Black Lives Matter” sign in front of their business as a statement of solidarity with the racial justice movement).
We must ensure Louisville is a Solidarity City based on principles of mutual aid and inclusion. Part of this requires community self-defense: We must take care of each other. The presence of fascists like Michael Burks is counter to this mission. They are not welcome in our town.
In Solidarity and Struggle,
The Coalition of Anti-Racists in Louisville (CARL)
