Matthew Q. Gebert

Matthew Q. Gebert (born c. 1981)^[2] is an American former foreign affairs officer in the U.S. State Department. He was suspended from his position in August 2019 after he was reported as a white nationalist by the Southern Poverty Law Center.^[2]

State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus declines to comment about Gebert's suspension on August 8, 2019.^[1]

Gebert joined the State Department in 2013. His brother reported him to the FBI in June 2019 for his activities. As of January 2020, Gebert was being investigated by the State Department,^[2] and was also active in the white nationalist movement.^[3]

Personal life, career, and education

Matthew Gebert is the oldest of two brothers and one sister in his family, and he and Michael grew up in New Jersey. He graduated from Sterling High School in Somerdale, New Jersey. According to his brother, Matthew listened to hip hop, including the rap group Wu-Tang Clan. Voted by his class as "Most Likely to Succeed", Gebert had earlier participated in a student exchange program in Ukraine.^[4][2]

Gebert graduated from George Washington University in 2011.^[5] In 2001 he had participated in a study program in Moscow that was sponsored by American University. There he met his future wife, Anna Vuckovic, a Serbian-American student abroad in a study program of Northwestern University. Gebert also took other opportunities later for travel in Eastern Europe.^[4][2]

Gebert and Vuckovic married in 2007, and have children together. In 2012 the couple purchased a home in Leesburg, Virginia (a distant suburb of Washington, D.C.) and lived there until at least 2019.^[4][2]

Gebert joined the U.S. State Department in 2013, as a presidential management fellow, a program intended to develop "potential government leaders".^[2]

Radicalization

According to his own account in a white nationalist forum, Gebert became radicalized in 2015. The reasons are unclear, although he had long been interested in Slavic culture and suggested the United States and the Slavic peoples had common interests. Gebert had studied and traveled numerous times in Russia and Eastern Europe since the fall of the Soviet Union.^{[citation needed]}

He became a white nationalist,^[6] leading a Washington, D.C.-area fan club of a neo-fascist podcast called "The Right Stuff."^[7] He uses the online pseudonym "Coach Finstock",^[8] in addition to several others.^[9]

Gebert attended the May 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.^[10]

In a podcast called "The Fatherland" in May 2018, Gebert was quoted as saying: "...[whites] need a country of our own with nukes, and we will retake this thing lickety split."^[2][11][12] In 2018, Gebert donated $200 to white supremacist Paul Nehlen's election campaign.^[1][7] He has hosted known white nationalists in his home in Leesburg, Virginia.^[13] In 2019, he shared an image of a swastika-shaped cookie with the caption: "From our pool party last night. Plate was stacked."^[14][15] The cookies were saved for special guests.^[15]

On July 2, 2019, Matthew Gebert's brother reported him to the FBI because: "I saw so much evil in my brother, I could not fucking deal with it".^[4] Following an investigation, as of August 8, 2019, Gebert was placed on leave from the State Department.^{[16][17][18][19]}

References

1. Winikoff, Janet (August 10, 2019). "Matthew Gebert: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Heavy.com. from the original on August 12, 2019. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
2. Hayden, Michael Edison (August 7, 2019). "U.S. State Department Official Involved in White Nationalist Movement, Hatewatch Determines". Hatewatch. Southern Poverty Law Center. from the original on August 15, 2019. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
3. Hayden, Michael Edison (January 30, 2020). "White Nationalist State Department Official Still Active in Hate Movement". Hatewatch. Southern Poverty Law Center. from the original on January 31, 2020. Retrieved January 30, 2020.
4. Hayden, Michael Edison (August 15, 2019). "Brother Says He Reported White Nationalist State Department Official to the FBI". Hatewatch. Southern Poverty Law Center. from the original on August 18, 2019. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
5. Owen, Tess (August 10, 2019). "It Seems a White Nationalist Managed to Pass the State Department's Background Check". Vice News. from the original on August 12, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
6. Owen, Tess (August 7, 2019). "State Department Official Moonlit as a White Nationalist Leader and Attended Charlottesville, Report Says". Vice News. from the original on August 8, 2019. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
7. Williams, Abigail; Siemaszko, Corky (August 7, 2019). "State Department worker unmasked as white supremacist, civil rights group says". NBC News. Archived from the original on August 8, 2019. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
8. Doctorow, Cory (August 7, 2019). "State department official alleged be behind white nationalist terror-supporter pseudonym: "[Whites] need a country of our own with nukes"". Boing Boing. from the original on August 8, 2019. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
9. Winikoff, Janet (August 10, 2019). "Matthew Gebert: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Heavy.com. from the original on August 12, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
10. Hayden, Michael Edison (August 9, 2019). "White Nationalist State Department Official Surfaces in Photographs". Hatewatch. Southern Poverty Law Center. from the original on August 18, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
11. Reed, Brad (August 7, 2019). "US State Department official exposed as a white nationalist organizer: report". Raw Story. from the original on August 8, 2019. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
12. Wroughton, Lesley (August 8, 2019). Rigby, Bill (ed.). "State Department suspends employee with white nationalist links". Yahoo! News. Reuters. from the original on August 9, 2019. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
13. Times-Mirror Staff (August 9, 2019). "Reports: Alleged white nationalist State Department employee lives in Leesburg, hosted events at his home". Loudon Times-Mirror. from the original on August 12, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
14. Dickson, E. J. (August 8, 2019). "State Department Staffer Suspended After Being Outed as Contributor to White Supremacist Forums". Rolling Stone. from the original on August 18, 2019. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
15. Dvorak, Petula (September 26, 2019). "Their Northern Virginia neighbor apparently saved his swastika cookies for special guests". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 3, 2019. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
16. Stieb, Matt (August 11, 2019). "An Alarming Weekend of White-Nationalist Activity". New York Magazine. from the original on August 14, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
17. Choi, David; Haltiwanger, John (August 7, 2019). "State Department confirms alleged leader of white-nationalist group is an employee, won't say if he'll be fired". Business Insider. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
18. Hansler, Jennifer (August 9, 2019). "State Department official on leave after civil rights group accuses him of being involved in white nationalist movement, source says". CNN. from the original on August 13, 2019. Retrieved August 12, 2019.
19. Lefebvre, Ben; Toosi, Nahal (August 8, 2019). "State Department suspends energy staffer linked to white supremacist group". Politico. from the original on August 10, 2019. Retrieved September 12, 2019.