Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


The leader of a white supremacist group has been re-sentenced in connection with a 2019 incident in Dexter.

Justen Watkins was re-sentenced to 56 months to 20 years in prison by Washtenaw County Judge Patrick Conlin. Watkins is the self-proclaimed leader of The Base – a national white supremacist group that advocates for violence against the government.

He pleaded guilty to gang membership felonies in connection to a 2019 incident in Dexter in which Watkins and co-defendant, Alfred Gorman, used intimidation tactics at a family’s home and posted messages to other The Base members targeting the home.

Around 11:30pm on December 11th, 2019, the victims reportedly witnessed Watkins and Gorman dressed in dark clothing shining a light and taking pictures on the front porch of the family’s home. The photos were then uploaded to The Base’s channel on the social media platform Telegram with the caption: “The Base sends greetings to Daniel Harper of the Antifa podcast ‘I Don’t Speak German’.” Watkins and Gorman mistakenly believed Harper resided at the victims’ home. However, Harper never lived at that address.

Gorman pled guilty to Gang Membership felonies in January 2022 and was sentenced to four years of probation and a one-year jail term - which is suspended pending successful completion of probation.

In a release, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said she refuses to allow domestic terrorists to incite violence against residents and communities – adding “I am proud to work alongside law enforcement agencies at the local, state and federal levels to safeguard the public from these serious threats and gratified to see justice served.”

In May, Watkins was sentenced to at least 32 months for conspiring to train for a civil disorder in Tuscola County Circuit Court. That case resulted from joint investigations by the Michigan State Police Caro Post and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Nessel said the May convictions secured against Watkins and others in Tuscola County marked the first in Michigan history that conspiring to train for a civil disorder was charged. She noted the Washtenaw County conviction is also the first time using the gang membership felony when charging a white supremacist terror cell under Michigan law.

The release states “Founded in 2018, The Base – which is the literal translation of “Al-Qaeda” in English – is a white supremacy gang that openly advocates for violence and criminal acts against the U.S., and purports to be training for a race war to establish white ethno-nationalist rule in areas of the U.S., including Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The group also traffics in Nazi ideology and extreme anti-Semitism”.

Watkins claims to be the leader of The Base and ran a “hate camp” for members of the group, where he led tactical and firearms training for participants with the goal of being prepared for the violent overthrow of the government.