White Nationalist Leader Hired by US Federal Contractor for Wildfire Relief Missions
A federal security contractor awarded millions of dollars by the US Department of Agriculture hired a prominent white nationalist leader to work on its patrols during wildfire relief operations last year. Ian Michael Elliott, a longstanding senior figure in the neofascist group Patriot Front, participated in "crisis relief missions" on the US west coast conducted by Knight Division Tactical.
Contractor's Links to Extremist Figure Revealed
Evidence of Elliott's involvement emerged through a LinkedIn post by one of Knight Division Tactical's executives in September, showing Elliott posing with other workers holding the company's flag. Elliott later posted a five-star review on the contractor's Google Maps page, praising it as a "stellar company" with "sharp agents" and "quality work." The company executive deleted the LinkedIn post after the Guardian inquired about it, but Knight Division Tactical did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Federal procurement records reveal that Knight Division Tactical's sole government contracting activity in the US involves providing unarmed security and patrol services for the US Forest Service, a subagency of the Department of Agriculture. The company was awarded $1.8 million in contracts in the 2024 fiscal year and $2.1 million in 2025, including two contracts around the time Elliott was pictured with its crew.
Patriot Front's Activities and Elliott's Role
Ian Elliott has long been a senior figure in Patriot Front, a group researchers identify as responsible for producing the majority of white supremacist propaganda in the United States. The organization, which markets itself to disillusioned white men, has been described as a "white nationalist pyramid scheme" and has been involved in various extremist activities.
In 2023, five Patriot Front members were convicted for plotting to start a riot at a gay pride event. The group is known for organizing militaristic white nationalist marches through US cities, with participants typically hiding their faces. Earlier this month, Patriot Front members, including Elliott, were present at the National Mall in Washington DC during the annual anti-abortion March for Life, where JD Vance spoke.
Elliott frequently serves as the bodyguard for Patriot Front founder Thomas Rousseau and leads Patria Gloria, a white nationalist grappling team affiliated with the group. He is also involved with the neo-Nazi active clubs movement, which experts warn consists of decentralized combat-ready white nationalist cells.
Training Compound and International Connections
Last year, it was revealed that Elliott is one of the leaders of Patriot Front's efforts to develop a 122-acre compound near Tellico Plains, Tennessee, where white nationalists receive combat training in preparation for a perceived race war. Images posted on Telegram show Elliott training fellow white nationalists at this compound.
Jon Lewis, a research fellow at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University, noted that Patriot Front acts as an "entry portal" for recruiting young, disillusioned white men interested in mixed martial arts and fighting. The group has contributed to mainstreaming fringe concepts like the "great replacement" theory, echoed by figures such as Stephen Miller and Elon Musk.
Recently, a Russian street fighting promoter with ties to US white nationalists announced that Elliott is joining its stable of fighters under the alias Norman. This highlights the international connections of white supremacist movements.
Contractor's Background and Ideological Leanings
Knight Division Tactical, incorporated in Wyoming in 2023, recruits heavily on social media, particularly Instagram, where it has amassed 60,000 followers. The company advertises lucrative assignments in exotic locales, claiming upcoming missions in Mongolia and Nigeria and encouraging applications from people in France and Switzerland with daily earnings up to $1,000.
The company's leadership frequently posts about conservative social issues and their Orthodox Christian faith. Co-founder and CEO Michael Schulz has stated that the company upholds "the highest order of Christian virtues." The company's logo features a double-headed eagle, a prominent Orthodox symbol, and Schulz encourages contractors to participate in prayer and scripture studies.
Schulz is also listed as the director of the Guild of Gentlemen, a traditionalist men's Christian organization that blames feminism for the "destruction of women" and dismisses concepts like racism and transgenderism as "evil Marxist talking points." Knight Division Tactical provided security for the guild's 2024 conference in Dallas.
Background Checks and Government Oversight
In videos posted on social media, Schulz claims that Knight Division Tactical performs background checks on applicants early in the recruitment process. However, Elliott's involvement with Patriot Front and other white nationalist groups is easily uncovered with a basic Google search.
A spokesperson for the US Forest Service stated that companies contracted by the agency manage their own hiring, background checks, and oversight of personnel independently. This raises questions about how a prominent white supremacist leader came to work for a federal contractor.
Jon Lewis commented, "It's not that surprising that there are white supremacists getting hired by government contractors. When officials are flooding the zone with racist, misogynistic, xenophobic, antisemitic, and Islamophobic messages, it emboldens groups like Patriot Front. It tells them they have allies in positions of power."
Technological Claims and Future Plans
In an August 2025 podcast interview, Schulz and co-founder Matthew McCalla claimed their company is developing proprietary "crisis prediction and threat prediction technology" to anticipate forest fires, hurricanes, and terrorist attacks using unspecified data models. Earlier this month, the company announced on Instagram that it was "launching a pre-cursor to a major new technology," currently a Discord server costing $49.99 per month.
Despite these claims, the company's primary government work remains focused on security services for wildfire relief, highlighting the concerning intersection of federal contracts and extremist affiliations.
