South Jersey seller of hate music says he is shutting down to find 'self peace'

A New Jersey man who has built a career catering to hate said Monday he will shutter his business in hopes of finding “spiritual peace.”

Steven Wiegand, one of the largest purveyors of white supremacist music and merchandise in the country, said he has thought for years about closing down his website but feels more urgency now because he sees the pain it causes “average everyday people” in his Cherry Hill community.

“My main focus needs to be healing whatever is going on in myself and between any neighbors. I’ve spoken to a few. There are plenty of people who are upset, rightfully,” Wiegand, who founded Micetrap Distribution more than 20 years ago, said Monday.

It is a remarkable reversal for a man who has claimed a leading position in the world of white supremacist merchandise and who throughout the years and as recently as Wednesday has publicly shown no discomfort with that role.
That image cracked Sunday — days after philly.com published a story about his business and a week after clashes between white supremacists and counter protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia left one woman dead — when Wiegand posted on his website that he no longer has the “passion and enthusiasm that made the business the success that it became.”

“After the recent issues in Charlottesville, Virginia, it has forced me to take a long, deep look into myself,” Wiegand wrote. “And after speaking with friends and neighbors, I can no longer be aligned with the violence (from all sides) that I have always been against.”


http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/south-jersey-seller-of-hate-music-is-shutting-down-to-find-self-peace-20170821.html