Editing Nuwaubian Nation (section)

==== Local tensions ====

In Georgia, the Nuwaubians met substantial local opposition.{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=68}} From 1997, many of the issues revolved around breaches of building regulations. In 1998, Victor Greig, the group's administrator in charge of construction, was fined $45,750 for violating building code regulations in the erection of a social club.{{sfn|Palmer|2010|pp=75-76}} In 1999, York then appeared in court on a contempt motion filed by the county, but this was dismissed.{{sfn|Palmer|2010|pp=77-78}}

Initially, the Nuwaubians were considered "eccentric" yet tolerable by their neighbors. Tensions increased locally, when the group distributed [[Pamphlet|leaflets]] attacking whites and claiming [[Ethnic conflict|racially-motivated persecution]] in a [[zoning]] conflict (they had set up an illegal [[nightclub]] in a [[warehouse]] on their property). These actions alienated many residents of the area, both black and white, among other ethnicities and races.<ref name= meets /> In 1998, the county sought an [[injunction]] against construction under any use that violated zoning policies. Subsequently, the Nuwaubian community increased its leafletting of Eatonton and surrounding areas, charging white officials with racial discrimination and striving to increase opposition to them. Threats mounted and an eviscerated dog carcass was left at the home of the [[District attorney|county attorney]].<ref name= meets>{{cite journal| url= https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2002/united-nuwaubian-nation-moors-meets-its-match-georgia |title= United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors Meets Its Match in Georgia |last=Moser |first=Bob |date= September 20, 2002 | publisher= [[Southern Poverty Law Center]]| journal= Intelligence Report| number= 107 | access-date= August 19, 2020| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20050301090734/http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid%3D41%26printable%3D1 |archive-date=March 1, 2005}}</ref>

In 1999, the Nuwaubians launched their own local publication, ''The Putnam News'',{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=78}} and the following year fielded candidates, associated with the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]], for the Putnam County elections.{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=81}}<ref>{{cite journal| last= Palmer| first= Susan| title= Cult Fighting in Middle Georgia| url= http://www2.trincoll.edu/csrpl/RINVol9No1/Cult%20Fighting%20in%20Middle%20Georgia.htm| journal= [[Religion in the News]] | date= Summer 2006| volume= 9| number= 1| access-date= August 19, 2020| via= trincoll.edu| publisher= [[Trinity College (Connecticut)|Trinity College]] | place= Hartford, Connecticut}}</ref> This contributed to local fears that the Nuwaubians were attempting a political takeover of the area, akin to that which the [[Rajneesh movement|Rajneesh]] followers had allegedly done in [[Oregon]].{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=82}} Local newspapers gave the Nuwaubians overwhelmingly negative coverage,{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=82}} while various journalists and attorneys who were deemed hostile to the group reported receiving death threats, property damage, or being stalked.{{sfn|Palmer|2010|pp=82-83}} 

Amid these tensions, the Nuwaubians pursued links with the African-American community more broadly; in 1999, they invited prominent community leaders [[Al Sharpton]] and [[Tyrone Brooks]] to visit Tama Re and speak on their behalf,{{sfn|Palmer|2010|pp=78-79}}<ref name= meets /> with [[Jesse Jackson]] then doing the same in 2001.{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=83}} The Nuwaubians also built links with the white-dominated [[Montana Freemen]], a [[Christian Patriot movement|Christian Patriot]] [[American militia movement|militia]]. One of the Freemen, Everett Leon Stout, visited Tama Re and encouraged the Nuwaubians to call on the county coroner to arrest the local sheriff and to file multi-million dollar lawsuits against various local officials.{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=80}}