As the Goyim Defense League nazis descended on Nashville, TN for their latest “Name the Nose” tour, antifascists launched their own campaign to identify them.
One of those nazis is Ian Henry Desantis, a 35-year-old recent Nashville, TN transplant from Santa Barbara, CA.
Ian Desantis was identified in January 2023, though his information wasn’t made public at the time. He was forgotten about until this week when his posts in the GDL chat revealed that he was one of the many neo-nazis participating in the group’s latest publicity stunt.
Ian Desantis’ Antisemitic Activity in California
Ian Desantis first landed on the radar of researchers when he popped into the White Lives Matter CA Telegram chat to brag about the antisemitic flyers he spread around the Santa Barbara community of Isla Vista making the local news — and he did so from a Telegram account that literally included his full name and full face pics.
Confirming his identity was easy, especially since his lack of concern over maintaining basic opsec was matched by his enthusiasm for participating in antisemitic activism (both solo and as part of larger GDL events).
Also included in Ian Desantis’ Telegram profile photos were two photos of him participating in the infamous “Kanye Was Right” banner drop over the 405 freeway in Los Angeles, CA. He was easily spotted in a review of Goyim Defense League’s live-stream footage from the October 2022 event.
Ian Desantis Goes Incognito in Tennessee
Ian Desantis has been much less brazen about his neo-nazi ideology since relocating to Nashville, TN, but his opsec practices haven’t improved much.
While he hasn’t been spotted in footage from the NTN Tour (yet), it is known that he was present.
But unlike the other GDL nazis who wore matching shirts and friendship bracelets, Desantis admitted to participating incognito — choosing to film the spectacle from rooftops of local businesses while wearing street clothes.
Ian Desantis still uses his first name as his Telegram username, though he has changed his handle since he was initially identified early last year — going from the completely self-doxxing ‘@idesantis’ to the slightly more subtle ‘@iand88’.
Hilariously, the small change to the account stems from concerns over being doxxed. What’s even funnier is that there’s no doubt this account belongs to Ian Desantis.
A scan of the Telegram account (user ID: 5005023549) confirms that the same user posting in the WLM CA chat back in January 2023 as @idesantis is the same person currently posting in GDL’s chat as @iand88.
In addition to matching the two handles to one Telegram account, public records show that Desantis relocated from California to Tennessee at some point after he’d been identified.
In February 2023, a search of public records showed that he was living in the Santa Barabara, CA area.
Interestingly, they also showed a couple of traffic tickets and a couple of arrests: One for DUI, and one for possession of a deadly weapon. Court records from Santa Barabara County showed he was sentenced to 60 days in jail and 3 years probation for the latter charge.
A more recent search of public records shows that Ian Desantis currently lives in Nashville, TN.
The change in location lines up with claims Desantis made in the GDL chat that he moved out of state due to having been doxxed.
The second part of his claim, however, doesn’t really check out: It doesn’t appear that he’s ever been publicly exposed for being an unapologetic neo-nazi.
But today, Ian Henry Desantis’s name, face, known locations, and ongoing involvement with a vile hate group were made public. So is the fact that he’s so committed to being a weird GDL fanboy with horrible opsec that he continually risks being chased out of the state he lives in and starting his life over in his mid-30’s rather than, you know, just not being a nazi.
