Self-described white supremacist and paedophile running for US congress from his parents’ home

The 37-year-old is running as an independent

A self-described white supremacist and paedophile who served time in jail over a plot to kill a US president, is running to become a congressman from his parents’ home in northern Virginia.

Nathan Larson spent 16 months in prison after being convicted in 2009 over an apparent plot to kill either George W Bush or Barack Obama. While he would be barred in many states from running for office, a law passed in 2016 in Virginia, means the 37-year-old part time account can make his run. He is contesting as an independent, having been expelled from the Libertarian Party of Virginia last year.

Mr Larson has never been convicted of paedophilia, but cached copies of his campaign website, show he advocates for child sexual abuse and the subjugation of women. He also is an admirer of the politics of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, whom he described as a “white supremacist hero”.

“I, Nathan Larson, hereby announce my candidacy as a quasi-neoreactionary libertarian in Virginia’s 10th congressional district election, 2018,“ he writes on his campaign page.

“As representative, my main agenda will be (1) stopping the war on drugs, (2) protecting gun ownership rights, and (3) putting an end to US involvement in foreign wars arising from our country’s alliance with Israel. I will also restore (4) benevolent white supremacy, (5) private borders, (6) patriarchy, (7) freedom of speech, (8) freedom from age restrictions, (9) suicide rights, (10) jury trial rights, (11) discrimination rights, and (12) free trade.”

This week the HuffPost reported Mr Larson had admitted creating two websites, both since taken down, that catered to paedophiles. One was said to lobby for such people, while there other pushed for potential sex offenders to be able to kill themselves legally at clinics.

“A lot of people are tired of political correctness and being constrained by it,” he said. “People prefer when there’s an outsider who doesn’t have anything to lose and is willing to say what’s on a lot of people’s minds.”

When asked by the news site whether he was an active paedophile or just wrote about paedophilia, he said: “It’s a mix of both. When people go over the top, there’s a grain of truth to what they say.”

Mr Larson did not immediately respond to enquiries from The Independent. However, the Washington Post said Mr Larson had confirmed he was behind the now defunct websites. He said he had never interacted in person with people from the forums he created.

Mr Larson, whose wife reportedly killed herself and whose child now lives with relatives, said he had filed paperwork with the Virginia Board of Elections to certify his latest candidacy last month. He said he had also submitted the 1,000 signatures of potential voters required to run for congress in Virginia.

He said his target supporters were so-called incels, the small but vocal community of “involuntary celibates” online who rage against feminism. “Build the morale among the incels help get them focused and get some traction,” he told the newspaper.

The Virginia Board of Elections did not immediately respond to enquiries.

Some people have seized on Mr Larson’s candidacy to attack Terry McAuliffe, the former Democratic governor of Virginia, who restored voting right to an estimated 13,000 former felons in 2016. Neither Mr McAuliffe or the current governor, Ralph Northam, have yet commented on the issue.