FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A worldwide anti-hate organization had been following a man who was arrested by the FBI in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday.
The Anti-Defamation League told Local 10 that its Center of Extremism had identified Paul Miller, 32, as a “volatile white supremacist-accelerationist.” The organization shared its findings with the FBI informing them that Miller was making videos, holding weapons, and calling for a race war.
Miller was taken into custody on Tuesday around 6 a.m. in the 1300 block of Southwest Sixth Street.
Known for spewing hateful messages, which are live-streamed across popular and lesser-known social media platforms, investigators said he often dressed in costumes inspired by movie characters.
According to the ADL’s website, Miller dressed as super villain comic book characters Riddler and Joker. As the Riddler character, he would say: “Riddle me this before you go. I’m loud and obnoxious. I like music that rhymes. I’m a fraction of the population but commit half the crimes“ before using a racial slur.
While it was Miller’s threatening rhetoric that put him on the FBI’s radar, its Joint Terrorism Task Force reported that officers arrested him on a charge of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.
Carla Hill, a research fellow for the Anti-Defamation League, said the anti-hate group had reported Miller last October to New Jersey law enforcement. “By the end of the month, Paul had moved and we tracked him to Florida,” Hill said. ADL’s Center of Extremism had located him in Fort Lauderdale and shared intelligence with federal law enforcement.
“We feared that, in this case, Paul Miller could escalate his activities,” Hill said.
The ADL posted background on Miller in November, where they described him as a New York and New Jersey-based white supremacist attracting fans on his Telegram channel.
Across several online platforms, Miller is seen taunting people with vulgar language, anti-Semitic rants, racial and homophobic slurs, sexist narratives and a deluge of hate speech.
In one video, as he spoke to over 10,000 of his online followers, a swastika can be seen hanging behind him. He told his followers he is trying to “build an army.”
United States Marshals were seen taking the man from the Broward County jail to the federal courthouse Wednesday morning, where he appeared before a federal judge via video conferencing, but his hearing was postponed because he did not have an attorney present.
Miller requested that he wanted to secure his own lawyer.
In court, Miller said he was “Sorry about all of this...” It was unclear the apology was about not having an attorney or for something else.
Miller will be back in court Friday at 10 a.m.