Trenin Bayless: Report on A White Power Extremist

Released: June 26, 2024 

Re-Published by Montana Human Rights Network 

Researched by Fash Free Northwest

Trenin Bayless is a postdoctoral researcher at Montana Tech. Previously, Bayless was employed at the Office of Public Instruction and has had a decade-long career in academia. He is also the white nationalist behind the internet persona ‘TurnCoat’.

Under the cover of anonymity, ‘TurnCoat’ uses his academic background and experience to posture as a pseudo-intellectual and proto-accelerationist influencer. Through his own social media platforms, as well as those run by other white nationalists and members of domestic terrorist organizations, he advocates for the infiltration of political offices by fascists and the indoctrination of graduate students, like those he mentors at Montana Tech, into neo-nazism and toward a militant accelerationist ideology.

This report details Bayless’ connections to neo-nazis and his involvement with hate groups like White Lives Matter (WLM). It also  documents his non-academic writings for white nationalist publishers Antelope Hill and White People’s Press, as well as the terrorist-connected propaganda outlet The American Futurist. Finally, it shows Bayless has been actively preparing himself and others for a violent collapse of “the System” by posting  weapons training videos under the thinly veiled cover of video game Live Action Role Playing, or LARPing.

A Review of Trenin Bayless’ Social Media Reveals a Chronically Online Neo-Nazi Hiding Behind a Public Facade

A quick internet search for “TurnCoat” revealed multiple social media accounts using the same username or a slight variation of it. All of the accounts used either the same picture from Blade 

Runner 2049 or varying versions of the infamous Unabomber sketch as a profile photo. In addition to accounts on mainstream social media platforms like Facebook and Youtube, accounts were found on “alternative”platforms on Telegram, Gab, Dissenter, Poast, and Rumble.

Bayless’s profiles and posts provide ample evidence of his allegiance to white supremacy ideology. For instance, his Gab profile boasts about his “strong academic background” alongside a reference to the popular white supremacist slogan known as the ‘14 Words’.  

Concerningly, many of his social posts threaten violence against Jewish people and People of Color and celebrate those who have perpetrated violence against Jewish people and People of Color. Figure 1.1 shows screenshots of posts from Bayless’s various social media accounts. 

His YouTube account is notable with nearly 80 videos and just under five thousand subscribers. Under the guise of LARPing, Bayless and friends demonstrate how they train and prep for social collapse. In the videos, they emulate STALKER video games and explore abandoned places, including mines,  in Montana with guns, including guns that he claims to have 3D printed.

As former White Lives Matter Montana leader and online ‘friend’ of Bayless, Cleetus (Sebastian Campbell) once said, “Everything is LARP until it isn’t.”

An Examination of Trenin Bayless’ Publications Uncovers the Militant Mindset Behind the Pseudo-Intellectual

Bayless was listed as a staff writer under the pseudonym Turn King on The American Futurist as made publicly known by Bayless through Gab (see Figure 1.2). The American Futurist is a neo nazi publication run by Jack Espinoza and Ryan Hatfield, both of whom were early members of the terrorist organization, Atomwaffen Division (AWD). AWD believes in white power accelerationism. Southern Povery Law Center describes white power accelerationism as:

[The belief] that the modern, post-industrial society cannot be redeemed. Instead, they believe it ought to be driven into apocalyptic collapse so a white ethnostate or whites-only utopia can be constructed in its wake. Unlike some other white power activists, accelerationists believe modernity has reached such a level of degeneracy and corruption that it cannot be rescued through mass movements or other political means.

The American Futurist has now been reduced to a platform for petty spats between its writers. But when Bayless began publishing on the site, it was known for being a central hub for white supremacist-motivated terrorism.

He published three articles for The American Futurist. The first two were published in 2020, shortly after the site was created, and a follow-up to his first article was published in 2022. Though he initially spoke highly of both the site and the organization behind it, his support appears to have stopped after the group lost its perceived edginess and split up due to infighting, revelations of pedophilia, and the infiltration of federal informants. 

Regardless of his current stance, the articles he wrote for The American Futurist helped to educate, influence, and even encourage those who are prone to committing acts of violence and terror. In his articles, he advocates for cells of neo-nazis to mobilize for on-the-ground action.

His articles also offers insight into his personal motivations, particularly in running for local office. He provides detailed plans for white power extremists to infiltrate and take over local conservative organizations and the Republican party. In his view, this should be done through the creation of “secret local networks of ultraconservative subversives”, stacked with members who wield political and academic influence. The goal is to continually expand that influence through the “subversive hiring of [white nationalist] allies” and “the quiet pushing of like-minded people into positions of power”. Notably, Bayless is currently a candidate for the Montana legislature. Figure 1.3 shows screenshots of Trenin Bayless articles published on The American Futurist.

In addition to publications in The American Futurist, Bayless is a prolific blogger on Substack. He’s written reviews of books and manifestos from eco-fascist ‘icons’ like Mike Ma and Ted Kaczynski. Eco-fascism is very closely intertwined with neo-nazi accelerationism and several high-profile mass-murderers have been identified as eco-fascists. Bayless’s writings show that he not only supports eco-fascism but also the mass murderers who share that ideology.

In one blog post, he referred to Brenton Tarrant, who carried out the most deadly attack in New Zealand’s history when he killed 51 people at two Mosques, as “the patron saint of kabab removal”. “Saint” is commonly used by militant accelerationists to refer to white supremacists who have killed for the “movement”.

In another blog post, he begins by arguing that trans and queer people “are degenerate social failures”. He then  argues that the existence of non-binary people is rooted in the passage of the 19th amendment blaming feminists for forcing mothers to hate their sons. In his opinion, because of feminism men have only two options: to become gay or to become hyper-masculine nazis.

And in another blog post,  Bayless claims to have real-life connections to white nationalists across the country. He writes of going to conferences with them and making plans for the collapse of society during their national meetup.

In addition to his articles in The American Futurist and his blogs on Substack, Bayless has contributed to Antelope Hill and White People’s Press. Antelope Hill is a publishing company specializing in translating historical Nazi literature and contemporary works by neo-fascists. White People’s Press “believe[s] White people have the right to maintain and assert a positive shared identity, and provide a platform for writers and artists who feel the same. Our primary intent is to raise awareness of White interests and discuss in a mature and productive manner the issues most important to our collective wellbeing.”

TurnCoat Advocates for Seizing Power from Within Bureaucracies

In his public-facing roles in academia and politics, as well as in his secret life as a neo-nazi, Trenin Bayless’ main objective is to get as close to central leadership as possible in order to position himself and his like-minded friends to eventually seize control of both state institutions and groups of racist activists.  On Substack, Bayless writes that “We seize control by: showing up and making friends, then getting ourselves into useful positions, then getting more of /ourguys/ into useful positions.”

Trenin Bayless and TurnCoat have both worked in state bureaucracies. In one Substack post, TurnCoat claimed to currently be working in an unnamed bureaucracy. The post was written during the period when Bayless worked for the Montana Office of Public Instruction (OPI). 

Identifying ‘TurnCoat’ as Trenin Bayless

Although he doesn’t appear to have participated in public neo-nazi demonstrations, it was remarkably easy to connect TurnCoat’s multiple social media accounts and, using several clues found within them, identify the “anonymous” neo-nazi accelerationist behind them as Trenin Bayless.

One clue to Bayless’ identity was found in a Telegram chat run by the National Socialist Movement (NSM). The post was written by a locally-known Montana neo-nazi named Andrew Salacinski.

Salacinski, who claimed to have personally met TurnCoat, was quick to turn his back on his fellow neo-nazi for being a “race traitor” for being married to an Asian woman and having a mixed-race child. Since Salacinski wrote this post while he was still confined to living in Butte, MT due to parole restrictions, it was safe to assume that TurnCoat was also in Butte. 

Further, TurnCout often boasts about his advanced degree. He was even more specific in a Telegram chat in mid-2021, sharing that he had just graduated with “a PhD in engineering” and clarifying that he was a “physical materials engineer”.

In Trenin Bayless’ thesis, he thanks his wife, mentioning her by both her legal name, Shiyan Sun, and her alias, Sunia MacSidhe. His wife was found to go by the same last name that TurnCoat did on his Dissenter profile: MacSidhe.

Bayless is dangerous with direct ties to neo-nazi terrorist cells

Ultimately, this research demonstrates that Trenin Bayless not only believes in white power accelerationism, but is actively pursuing a world where it’s a reality. He has taken action to promote this belief system through his online personas. Through these online personas he has repeatedly called for the leveraging of positions of power to proselytize this dangerous belief system and to put neo-nazis into positions of power. 

To see the formal report, please see the full report here.

To see our letter to Montana tech, please click here.

To see the article from Daily Montanan, please click here.

To read a longer version of this research, please visit Fash Free NW.