Ian Smith, a failed Congressional candidate and former owner of Atilis Gym in Bellmawr, NJ, gained notoriety for accruing more than a million dollars in fines for illegal activities pertaining to his business in defiance of Covid-19 lockdown orders. Smith's campaign was overshadowed by his multiple DUI incidents, with the most recent one leading to his arrest on charges of driving under the influence, refusing to take a breathalyzer test, and reckless and careless driving. Smith had previously been involved in a drunk driving crash in 2007, which resulted in the death of a 19-year-old student named Kevin Ade.
As Ian Smith began to grow in his online presence, his staunch antisemitic views, tweets promoting violence, and continuous criminal activities began to surface.
Throughout Smith's posts, he often touts the false antisemitic trope of Jewish 'power.' For example:
In 2022, Smith tweeted: "There is no American government, only a mafia controlled by bankers. (Guess what kind of bankers)."
In February 2023, he tweeted: "Communism is not our biggest threat, the cooperation between powerful global corporations and a political oligarchy backed by Zionist bankers is the cause of almost every problem in our lives."
In June of 2023, Smith tweeted, "How come when I criticize the American government, Americans don’t take it as a personal attack but when I criticize Israel and powerful Zionists, Jewish people take it personally?"
Just this past week, Smith attempted to rationalize the lack of prosecution of crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried on the fact he was Jewish and that of Jewish control by using ((( ))), often used by white supremacists and Jew haters to define Jews.
Ian Smith has also tweeted on multiple occasions questioning dual-loyalty between Americans and Israel, insinuating Jews are somehow separate from the rest of society, fostering an "us vs. them" mentality.
Smith’s ongoing Jew hatred is broadcasted throughout his social media postings. Examples include:
In similar vein to the white supremacist group, the Goyim Defense League (GDL), who roam the country spreading hundreds of antisemitic pamphlets, Smith contends that the "trans agenda" is a deliberate part of a Jewish 'scheme.'
Smith often downplays the evils of Hitler and Nazi Germany by comparing them to other atrocities in history. He mocked the seriousness of antisemitism with a graphic that says, "when you are worse than the Nazis but nobody cares because you flooded western academia with your useful idiots."
According to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, making false and deceitful claims regarding Jewish or Zionist 'power' and 'control' is considered antisemitic. This suggests that Jews are using their influence to manipulate financial systems for their own benefit, which has been historically used to discriminate against and marginalize Jewish communities. Additionally, accusing Jewish Americans of having dual-loyalty to both America and Israel is also an act of antisemitism. These harmful stereotypes and false conspiracies have been attributed to centuries-old violence against the Jewish people.