Episode 082: Tym Burkey – Aryan Nations Hate Group, White Supremacy Extremists

Retired agent Tym Burkey served 20 years with the FBI. While in the Cincinnati Division at the Dayton Resident Agency, he worked violent crime and domestic terrorism matters and was assigned a case targeting the Aryan Nations, which at the time was considered to be the most dangerous white supremacist group in the United States. In this episode of FBI Retired Case File Review, Tym Burkey reviews how his informant Dave Hall infiltrated the violent neo-Nazi organization. The intelligence gathered by Hall led to the disruption and dismantling of the Aryan Nations’ leadership. Later in his career, Tym Burkey began working counterintelligence investigations and was transferred to the Albuquerque Division where he was assigned to the Sandia National Laboratories and supervised the Albuquerque Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). After retiring from the FBI, Tym Burkey co-wrote with Dave Hall a narrative account of their Aryan Nations case. Their book, Into the Devil’s Den: How an FBI Informant Got Inside the Aryan Nations and a Special Agent Got Him Out Alive, is a true-life thriller and a testament to bravery, dedication, and friendship. It’s also a timely reminder that America’s homegrown terrorists can be just as deadly as those from overseas.

Special Agent (Retired)

Tym Burkey

6/16/91 – 6/17/2011

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following are links to news articles about the Aryan Nations and information about the domestic threat of violent extremist groups posted on the FBI website and on the websites of non-profit organizations exposing and combatting hate:

FBI Website – Domestic Threat, White Supremacy Extremism

FBI Website – Why Do People Become Violent Extremists?

The Dayton Jewish Observer –  The fall of the Aryan Nations

ADL – Aryan Nations/Church of Jesus Christ Christian

Southern Poverty Law Center – Aryan Nations — once the best-known white supremacy group in the country – has all but faded into racist history

A photo of Dave Hall taken from the book he wrote with Tym Burkey about his infiltration of the Aryan Nations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tym Burkey and Dave Hall’s book about the Aryan Nations case is a testament to bravery, dedication, and friendship. It can be purchased here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jerri Williams

View posts by Jerri Williams
Jerri Williams, a retired FBI agent, author and podcaster, jokes that she writes about the FBI to relive her glory days. After 26 years with the Bureau specializing in major economic fraud and corruption investigations, she calls on her professional encounters with scams and schemers to write police procedurals inspired by true crime FBI cases in her Philadelphia FBI Corruption Squad crime fiction series featuring flawed female FBI agent Kari Wheeler. Jerri’s FBI for Armchair Detectives nonfiction series enables readers to discover who the FBI is and what the FBI does by debunking misconceptions about the FBI in books, TV, and movies. Her books are available as ebooks, paperbacks, and audiobooks wherever books are sold. She’s also the host of FBI Retired Case File Review, a true crime podcast with more than 300 episodes available on all popular podcast apps and YouTube.

2 Comments

  1. CharkletAugust 15, 2018

    Thanks for this interview, Jerri. What a hero the informant in this case is!

    Of course the agent and that attorney he mentioned are doing amazing jobs. But too often those who are already being socially, emotionally, and financially rewarded on a regular basis are the ones that receive most of the credit, while not necessarily recognizing or showing gratitude for the privileges and daily support that enable them to get those jobs done. The informant, here, therefore, to me, is the real hero (ahh!! too many commas :). Not having the (dare I say) intelligence to recognize the informant’s bravery and the price he was paying for his generosity of spirit and his goodness = because he had one prior charge?! — is, in my view, too often a problem in law enforcement. Yet the agent is very proud to have gotten a judge to defer (not cancel, but defer) the jail time the informant would still have to serve. Yes, the agent did say he regretted not noticing the toll the informant was paying, but that’s exactly the problem. Its a problem with the culture of usually hyper-masculine-identified law enforcement to actively not notice or discuss these tolls. Happy to hear a successful recovery for that noble informant.

    Reply
    1. Jerri WilliamsAugust 15, 2018

      You are so right. The success of many FBI cases is based on the cooperation of informants and witnesses. Their willingness to assist is often at a risk to their livelihoods and, in some circumstances, even lives. Thank you for listening.

      Reply

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