Your Tax Dollars at Work: The Nazi Leader Behind Coos Bay’s Whit Industries

As a well-known business owner in the coastal community of Coos Bay, Oregon, Michael Whitworth Gantenbein is a recognizable man. The 53-year-old has a long, gray bushy beard, and his black flatbed pickup truck is always flying two flags: an American stars and stripes, and a yellow “Don’t Tread on Me” Gadsden flag.

Gantenbein’s Coos Bay-located company — Whit Industries — is a local go-to for hydraulics installation and repairs. In recent years, Whit Industries has received a quarter of a million dollars in public contracts from the Port of Coos Bay and other local entities. But Gantenbein isn’t just a hardworking blue-collar business guy. He’s also an active neo-Nazi using his company’s resources to promote hate. One example is Whit Industries’ recruiting of white supremacists to the Coos Bay area — one of Gantenbein’s newest employees is an alleged pedophile from Salem. 

On September 21, 2024, Gantenbein was identified by Corvallis Antifa as a leader of the Oregon chapter of White Lives Matter, a national Neo-Nazi organization. Designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, White Lives Matter Oregon (WLM-OR) is primarily organized through Telegram, a Russian messaging app commonly used by white supremacists because it lacks moderation. LCRW reviewed Telegram chat logs obtained by Corvallis Antifa, gaining insight into how the group functions. 

After being vetted by the group’s administrators—Gantenbein and Cruz Dean Walters, a 25-year-old Marine veteran from McMinnville, Oregon—new recruits are added to the WLM-OR group chat. In between long rants about their personal lives and the white power movement, members of the group are encouraged to spread white supremacist propaganda in their communities.

Using the username @whits007, and display name “Nowhere Man,” a sampling of Gantenbein’s Telegram posts reveal his true colors as a bigot and a racist. “Can only hope day of the rope comes fast,” he says in one post, referring to a common Nazi trope for ethnic cleansing through mass lynchings. “Sucks these faggor [sic] lovers have levers of power in our society.” When a group member “King Richard” declared “It’s White power Wednesday, [n-word] [n-word] White Power,” Whit replied, “have a white fukin [sic] power day.”In other posts, Gantenbein shared content from Memewaffen, a neo-Nazi page referencing the terrorist group Atomwaffen Division. These posts give instructions on how to make molotov cocktails and depict a Nazi sonnenrad.

While most members of the group take pains to hide identifying information about themselves, Gantenbein frequently shares information about his personal life and business in the WLM-OR chat. “I don’t have a private life,” Gantenbein told the WLM-OR group in an audio clip obtained by LCRW. “You know my company names, you know my real name… I live on Sand Dollar in Coos Bay.”

Gantenbein’s posts include multiple photos of his black Ford work truck, which is easily recognizable with its aftermarket flatbed and signature American and Gadsden flags. Images of his truck can also be seen in the latest WLM-OR video, which shows the group hanging banners that read “Make White Babies” and “Stop White Genocide” over Portland’s I-405 overpass on September 10, 2024.

This event was documented on X by AP News journalist Anne Peterson; in Peterson’s photo, Whit’s beard can be seen protruding from his balaclava. Both the WLM-OR video and Peterson’s photos also depict group members waving a Nazi sonnenrad flag.

In another Telegram post, Gantenbein shares the White Lives Matter stickers he’s placed in Riddle, Oregon. When asked where he gets his stickers, Gantenbein replies, “1 of my employees prints them for me.” LCRW received a tip from Corvallis Antifa that this employee uses the name “Eric.”

Gantenbein is actively recruiting other neo-Nazis to move to Coos Bay. “Whit is wanting to start up his own community out in Coos Bay,” explains WLM-OR leader Cruz Walters in audio obtained by LCRW. Gantenbein is offering people within the white power movement jobs in Coos Bay with the ultimate goal of having fellow white supremacists take over positions in local government such as “mayor or city council or all of above.”

In the clip above, Walters describes how “Richard”—a member of the WLM-OR group identified by Corvallis Antifa as Landon Calhoon of Salem, Oregon—plans to move to Coos Bay and work for Whit Industries. Despite this plan, Calhoon was kicked out of WLM-OR in mid-September for being petty and argumentative, and Walters subsequently revealed to the group that Calhoon is an alleged pedophile.

“This is about a fucking pedophile, a child molester, and someone who I believe deserves a fucking rope if he is guilty of that,” Walters declared in a heated voice recording obtained by LCRW.

Calhoon stated to Gantenbein that “his family hates [Calhoon] because there’s an allegation… that he’s touched someone,” says Walters. Additionally, Gantenbein witnessed Calhoon being “hands on” with an eight year old girl while the two men were meeting together in Coos Bay. Despite the obvious red flags, Walters stated that Gantenbein is still planning to hire Calhoon in the fall.

Combining his neo-Nazi activities with the company resources of Whit Industries is particularly disturbing given that Gantenbein is the recipient of numerous public contracts totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Whit Industries specializes in hydraulic systems for the marine industry and, additionally, offers painting for ships. There are no financial statements available for the company because it is privately owned, however, the research group Information for Public Use published a selection of Ganteinbein’s public contracts. His client list includes Coos County, City of North Bend, Port of Coos Bay, Port of Umpqua, and South Coast Education Service District.

As the go-to hydraulics guy for all of these area’s ports, Whit is deeply embedded in—and funded by—local governmental bodies. 

For example, in 2022, the Port of Coos Bay needed hydraulic repairs done to the swing span bridge connecting Coos Bay with North Bend. Rather than accept bids for the job, they declared an emergency in order to sole-source Whit Industries for the work and Gantenbein received $30,000 of taxpayer money for this job.

A popular Coos Bay Facebook page has been raising awareness about the problems with Whit Industries’ mixture of hatred and public funding. 

Mary Geddry, the local blogger behind “Oregon’s Bay Area,” said she does not know if the Port was previously aware of Gantenbein’s white supremacist activities or his “disgusting racist and homophobic statements” on Telegram. 

“Now the Port is aware,” said Geddry in a statement to Information for Public Use, “and every time Gantenbein’s vehicle is seen at a white power rally, the Port will forever be associated with these hateful events.”

Minutes from the the Port’s Board of Commissioner’s meetings show Whit Industries was awarded at least five major contracts with the port over the past few years. Those five contracts alone total $219,602 of Oregon taxpayer’s dollars.

“These records represent our initial research into Whit Industries,” Information for Public Use explained on their blog. “Our sources indicate that Gantenbein’s work extends across the West coast, and further research is needed to confirm the full scope of the company’s activities.”

“We take these matters seriously… we are looking into this matter,” the Port of Coos Bay’s administrative manager Krystal Karcher said in response to a request for comment on their relationship with Whit Industries.

Karcher did not clarify whether there will be an official investigation.

The Port of Coos Bay has a number of large projects currently in the works. Most notably is the Pacific Coast Intermodal Port — a five-year, $2.3 billion project, which the Port announced it is seeking additional federal funds for this summer. “Given Whit Industries’ deep ties to the Port, it’s fair to assume that Gantenbein would be a significant recipient of these funds,” antifascist researchers with Stumptown Research Collective stated on Twitter. “The Port of Coos Bay should sever all ties with Whit Industries.”

Coos Bay also plans to develop a major offshore wind project and Whit Industries attended at least one of the Oregon Department of Energy’s public meetings regarding the project. At the meeting, Gantenbein’s company was represented by employee Matt Wilbanks, another controversial far-right figure in Coos Bay.

Known for meddling in local politics, Wilbanks ran the Coos County Neighboorhood Watch — a group that films and doxxes homeless people—before relocating to Eastern Oregon earlier this year. In 2016, Wilbanks claimed affiliation with the Coos County Chapter of the Three Percenters militia movement and is the editor of the Daily Resister, a far-right blog that promotes “Patriot movement” politics, including past events with local rightwing radio personality Rob Taylor and Joey Gibson of Patriot Prayer.

While Wilbanks’ exact affiliation with WLM-OR is unknown, Gantenbein has clearly sought to inject Nazism into Oregon’s Patriot Movement. As of mid-September, WLM-OR members Walters, Calhoon, and Gantenbein were all active in the “Oregon Patriot Alliance” on Telegram, with Gantenbein serving as a chat administrator. The group has over 150 members and Gantenbein regularly posts homophobic and racist slurs alongside WLM-OR content and flyers from the antisemitic Goyim Defense League. In one particularly bizarre post, Gantenbein claims that he is a “German Jew.” 

In August 2024, Gantenbein sent the group a voice message: “People that are offended by words like… [n-word] or faggot need to get over it really quick, guys. Normalize this shit.” According to Corvallis Antifa, Gantenbein “is actively attempting to radicalize [Patriots] by feeding them a steady stream of Nazi propaganda.”

In the short time since WLM-OR’s membership was exposed by Corvallis Antifa, the group has fallen into disarray. The WLM-OR Twitter page has been de-activated and its future is uncertain. Alleged pedophile Landon Calhoon has since blamed group leader Cruz Walters, for WLM-OR members being identified. Using the Twitter names “This is W.A.R.” and “White American Rebel,” Calhoon called Walters a “young fool who has no life experience.”

Regarding the revelations that the Port of Coos Bay is funding a Nazi, Calhoon believes that Gantenbein will not be affected. “There is nobody that can do what he does,” Calhoon wrote on X/Twitter. “He’s a fucking millionaire.” As of late September, Gantenbein continues to post conspiracy theories on Telegram about white replacement, fluoride poisoning, and advice from an “FBI whistleblower” that Americans should “arm themselves, stock up on 3-4 months’ supply of food and water, and pray.”

Thanks to the antifascist researchers who helped with this article, especially Corvallis Antifa. Tips about White Lives Matter, Michael “Whit” Gantenbein, and his associates should be sent to CVAntifa@riseup.net.