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Word broke on Telegram on Tuesday morning that Alt Right icon Robert Ray, aka Azzmador, passed away shortly after a disturbing post complaining about excruciating pain in his legs.

One could argue that Azzmador qualifies as a martyr to the White Nationalist cause because the only reason that he was unable to seek proper medical care was because he had been a fugitive of the law since August 2017, when he maced an antifa activist in self-defense at the Charlottesville tiki torch march.

Azzmador was a last-minute addition to the Unite the Right speakers list. The Daily Stormer was initially considered too hot for Charlottesville, but pressure mounted within the Alt Right that they be included. It was eventually agreed that the Stormer would be represented at Charlottesville by writer and podcaster Azzmador. Azzzmador had some experience in real-life activism with his local Stormer Book Clubs. At one famous event, Azzmador took the Texas Book Club to a university where anarchists were teaching a class on punching Nazis. Once confronted by real Nazis, the students hid under their desks.

In the end, no one got to give a speech at Unite the Right, although Azzmador did do a podcast at Charlottesville that, for that time, was monumental. The story goes that the evening after the event, Azzmador met up with some friends from a Québécois White Nationalist outfit. Azzmador then got a call on his phone from Eli Mosley. Mosely told Azzmador that Richard “Cluster B” Spencer was having a party at his place, and that he wanted Azzmador to attend. Azzmador asked Mosley if he could bring his friends to the party. Mosley informed Azzmador that he could not, as his party was for the Alt Right “elite” only. Azzmador then instructed Mosley to tell Spencer to go fuck himself. Years later, Spencer singled out Azzmador in a CNN interview with Elle Reeve, describing him as “disgusting.”

Azzmador decided to have his own party with his own non-elite friends, when who should walk through the door than Rebel Media reporter Faith Goldy. Azzmador, Andrew Anglin, Chris Cantwell, Johnny Monoxide, and Faith Goldy proceeded to record a podcast together. It ended up getting Goldy fired from Rebel Media. She ended up defecting to the Alt Right, said the 14 Words on Millenniyule, found her way to VDare, and even got mentioned onstage by Morrissey.

Today we have Candace Owens naming the Jew and Charlie Kirk talking about white identity, so all of this might not seem that important. But in 2017, when dissident Right ideas were far more socially radioactive, having someone as “mainstream” as Faith Goldy defect to our side was considered a major coup. All of this was largely brought about by Azzmador’s refusal to go to Richard Spencer’s party.

Ironically, Richard Spencer’s party that night would become famous in its own right, as it was where Richard Spencer delivered his iconic, cocaine-fueled “fruitcake freakout” speech wherein he declared himself ruler of the world. In terms of whose party had a more positive impact on the movement, I think we can say Azzmador wins the prize.

Azzmador ended up being prosecuted for the Charlottesville pepper-spray incident. In his wayward youth, he had spent some time in prison and vowed never to return. Rather than surrendering to authorities, he thus chose a life on the run. For the next seven years, until his passing, he remained continually on the run.

Azzmador ceased writing for the already legally-besieged Daily Stormer shortly after Charlottesville and dropped off many people’s radar around that time. What many might not know is that he never actually left. While he disengaged from the broader movement and podcast circuit, he continued as an independent on alt tech platforms such as DLive, Odyssee, and Rumble. He was also active on Gab, and accumulated a cult following among groypers to go along with his OG fans from his Alt Right days.

It was during this later period that I began regularly listening to Azzmador. I had been aware of him during his Alt Right days, but at the time he seemed to be another edgelord in a sea of edgelords — the primary difference being his instantly-recognizable good ol’ boy accent. After Charlottesville, he adopted a more personable and friendly persona. He talked more about his life and things he’s experienced, such as his time in prison (he advised against joining the Aryan Brotherhood) and the weirdos he had encountered working in a porn shop in his twenties. But although he found fame on the Internet, Azzmador’s first foray into politics was local activism, where he and his band of merrymakers had become a thorn in the side of city hall.

Charlottesville changed him. As he explained on one of his streams, it made him realize “that it can’t all be a big joke all of the time.” Once he was independent and no longer representing a brand, he was under no obligation to “stay on brand” and was freer to be himself.

Azzmador’s roots were in writing and podcasting, but livestreaming was where he was most talented. As a gentleman of the old school, Azzmador was committed keeping the spirit of radio alive in the Internet age. He frequently stressed that he did not “do podcasts”; he “did radio.” His show, Krypto Report, was livestreamed in the style of FM talk radio, with regular musical breaks and audience call-ins. Azzmador scraped together just enough money from his superchats not to starve to death. In 2023, the Southern Poverty Law Center was kvetching about him allegedly making $5,000 on Odysee. Azzmador joked about surviving on canned beans,

Azzmador’s years after Charlottesville may have been few in number, and 57 is too young to be dying of natural causes. But we can take comfort in the fact that he died a free man. How much more crushing would it have been had he died in prison? Could you imagine the anti-whites’ laughter? By going on the run and evading the Eye of ZOG to his dying breath, Azzmador deprived the Jews of that victory.