Neo-Nazi leader indicted on disorderly conduct charges in 2021 Chandler incident
The Maricopa County Attorney's Office indicted a neo-Nazi leader on disorderly conduct charges nine months after he was arrested on suspicion of pointing a gun at a Black man in Chandler.
The indictment against Burt Colucci, 45, was filed on Jan. 4, per court documents. He is being charged with two counts of misdemeanor disorderly conduct and one count of felony disorderly conduct.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Colucci is the current commander of the National Socialist Movement, a prominent neo-Nazi group.
Colucci was arrested in April 2021 after Chandler police said he drew a handgun while threatening to kill a group of Black people outside of a hotel near Price and Queen Creek roads.
During Colucci's arrest, he explained that he had come to the Valley to take part in a small neo-Nazi rally at the Arizona Capitol and went on to say that Chandler is about to become "ground zero" for the neo-Nazi movement, the arrest report reads.
Court documents state Colucci lives in Lakeland, Florida.
Witnesses said that Colucci and another white man had been yelling racial slurs back and forth with a group in a Mercedes after Colucci threw trash at their car claiming they had been dumping it on the street, court documents state.
A victim explained that the group got back in their car and as they were driving away Colucci "switched hands," pulled out a can of pepper spray and sprayed her through a window. The court documents state that Colucci admitted to pepper spraying the car, claiming he felt threatened.
The felony disorderly conduct charge is related to the reckless handling and discharging of a gun, while the two counts of misdemeanor disorderly conduct are related to the use of racial slurs and the use of pepper spray inside a vehicle, court documents state.
Republic reporter Miguel Torres and The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Reach breaking news reporter Amaris Encinas at amaris.encinas@arizonarepublic.com or on Twitter @amarisencinas.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Neo-Nazi leader accused of disorderly conduct in Chandler incident
