The leader of an Atlanta-based radical sect was sentenced Monday in federal court to five years’ probation for working with an unregistered Russian agent to sow discord and spread misinformation in the United States.
During the hearing in Tampa, Florida, U.S. District Judge William F. Jung also ordered Augustus Romain Jr., a 38-year-old Atlanta native who once led a far-left political organization called the Black Hammer Party, to participate in mental health treatment and submit to random drug screenings.
The sentence follows the September trial of Romain and several co-conspirators who prosecutors said worked with Aleksandr Viktorovich Ionov, a Russian national accused by the U.S. Justice Department of running a foreign influence operation with the intent to exacerbate racial division in the United States. A jury found Romain, who acted as his own attorney, and three co-defendants who were members of the similarly radical African People’s Socialist Party, guilty of conspiracy to act as an agent of the Russian government.
Ionov is not in U.S. custody and was indicted in absentia.
Prosecutors had asked that Romain, who went by the name Gazi Kodzo and uses the nonbinary pronoun they, be sentenced to five years in prison, rather than probation, citing the “evil intent” of the conspiracy.
According to investigators, the conspiracy dates to at least 2015 when Romain was a leader in the Florida-based APSP. Ionov allegedly pressured the group to publish a petition asking the United Nations to charge the U.S. with genocide against Black citizens.
Romain left the group in 2018 and returned to Atlanta to form the Black Hammer Party, which they used to conduct often outlandish protests around the city, including an anti-vaccine protest outside the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during the COVID-19 epidemic, and a demonstration with members of the far-right Proud Boys in front of the CNN Center.
FBI investigators said Ionov funded a number of Black Hammer activities, including a demonstration at the California headquarters of Meta, the parent company of Facebook, in March 2022 over its policies regarding content about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“Thus, over seven years, the Defendant repeatedly took actions at the direction and control of the Russian government, always being careful to conceal the Russian government’s role,” prosecutors wrote in a presentencing memo. “These actions were calculated to promote division in the United States and promote Russian geopolitical interests. … These are serious crimes that require a serious sentence.”
Although the verdict carries no prison time, Romain is not yet free. Romain has been in custody since their arrest following a July 2022 SWAT standoff at a Fayetteville house Black Hammer members used as a base of operations.
At trial, prosecutors produced text messages and Facebook messages between Romain and Ionov detailing their plans.
“When u having another event? I’d love to come to Russia,” Romain wrote in a July 2020 message.
Ionov was noncommittal, saying he was waiting on international flights, which were paused during the pandemic, to resume.
Romain and Ionov swapped dozens of messages on WhatsApp on the trip to San Francisco for the Meta protest, with Romain showing Ionov a photo of a handmade placard they planned to display accusing the company of “segregating Russian people.”
“Only one banner?” Ionov replied. “I think need minimum 3.”
Romain replied with a second photo showing two signs.
“We gone (sic) do two and the Russian flag and the RBG flag,” Romain told Ionov. RBG is common shorthand for the red, black and green of the Pan-African flag.
In messages following the Meta protest, Ionov promised to send Romain money in Bitcoin and asked Romain to post pro-Russian propaganda on Black Hammer social media feeds.
“I got you Comrade,” Romain replied.
Within hours, Romain replied with a link to a Twitter post meeting Ionov’s request. “Let me know what you think. Is it good?” Romain wrote in a follow-up message.
In a June 2022 exchange on WhatsApp, Romain ran the wording of a Black Hammer press release condemning President Joe Biden for his support for Ukraine past Ionov for his approval.
“Hope you like it,” Romain wrote.
The end of the federal case clears the way for Fayette County prosecutors to proceed with their criminal case against Romain stemming from the 2022 SWAT standoff in Fayetteville. In that case, Romain is charged with operating a street gang, as well as kidnapping, false imprisonment, aggravated assault and aggravated sodomy.
Authorities swarmed the house July 19, 2022, when a man called 911 from inside the rental house that served as a headquarters and claimed he and others had been kidnapped and held against their will. Prosecutors claim that Romain forcibly sodomized one of the men.
A trial in that case is set to begin Jan. 27, although prior court dates in the case have come and gone without action. Romain’s attorney in the case did not respond to a request for comment.
About the Author
