SEATTLE — A group of people connected to a prominent white nationalist group has filed a lawsuit against a Seattle-area man they say revealed their identities and upended their lives.
Five people affiliated with Patriot Front filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington against David Alan Capito, who changed his name to Vyacheslav Arkangelskiy, according to the lawsuit.
Per court documents, Capito is accused of using a fake name, "Vincent Washington," to infiltrate Patriot Front and "unauthorized access to confidential information about the Plaintiffs from Patriot Front’s computer databases."
He also is accused of recording the plaintiffs with hidden microphones and cameras, then used that information to expose connections to Patriot Front to employers and neighbors. Capito also is said to have used his photography skills to photograph license plates and other identifying information of members at events.
Capito allegedly used this information to "doxx" the people suing him, causing the plaintiffs to lose their jobs, move out of their homes or be harassed.
Three of the plaintiffs are from Washington: James Johnson and his wife Amelia, as well as Colton Brown, who was the Patriot Front member "duped" into allowing Capito to join. The suit also names Paul Gancarz of Virginia and Daniel Turetchi of Pennsylvania.
In the lawsuit, Brown claims he was living at his parent's home and working as an electrician's assistant. After Capito allegedly trespassed onto the family's property to take pictures of the home that were posted along with other personal information, Brown lost his job and was forced to move out of his family's home.
James and Amelia Johnson say in December 2021, Capito posted hundreds of "hostile" flyers around their neighborhood exposing their connection to Patriot Front. The couple says they were forced to move their family out of the neighborhood, and Amelia lost her job while James disrupted his relationship with his union and lost 1/3 of his pay and his benefits, per court documents.
The plaintiffs say Capito had a restraining order filed against him as part of a domestic abuse petition in 2019 and has been affiliated with the Puget Sound John Brown Gun Club, a chapter of a national gun-rights club that "seeks to disrupt fascists and fascist organizations and events," according to the Counter Extremism Project.
The plaintiffs are seeking economic damages, injunctive relief to stop Capito from using the confidential information of the plaintiffs and punitive damages as well as attorneys' fees.
