Meet Logan Starr Smith aka JPBellum, 40, of Pocatello, Idaho who is the so-called founder of the #DezNat hashtag as well as a homophobic, misogynistic, antisemitic bigot. Logan recently moved from Fair Oaks in Northern California to Pocatello in Southeastern Idaho. He is a return Mormon missionary, graduate of Brigham Young University-Idaho, a member of the Gwen Ward of the Pocatello Idaho Central Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and an original member of the Discord server where DezNat came to life. While Logan enjoys a stable job and marriage, he is also an unrelenting troll who actively targets marginalized people and uses white supremacist memes mingled with Mormon imagery. Additionally, he has targeted gay students and progressive professors in an effort to get them kicked out of Brigham Young University. Logan once said that the only way to be truly anonymous is to get rid of all one’s social media and chuck their smartphone–well he took his own advice too late because today let’s get to know the hateful troll behind the pseudonymous account of JPBellum.
“True anonymity would be deleting all your social media and chucking your smartphone.” – Logan Smith as JPBellum
Images of DezNat user Logan Smith aka JPBellum and his wife, Antoinette Smith aka SisterBellum.
Content Warning: This article contains racist, queerphobic and misogynistic statements, antisemitism, as well as references to the Holocaust, neo-Nazism, and acts of violence, and other objectionable language. We feel it is important to show examples of this person’s hateful ideology in his own words, rather than merely describing or characterizing it. In all cases where slurs or other offensive words have letters replaced by asterisks, or have been redacted or obscured in images, those redaction’s have been added by the authors of this article, not by the person who is being quoted/screencapped.
Background – DezNat Origins
According to Logan Smith, he was first drawn to Deseret Nationalism after hearing about it from Mormon white nationalist and Identity Evropa member, Ayla Stewart. Logan claims reading an article on Stewart (aka Wife With A Purpose) is what “finally drove [him] to join twitter and start participating in the discussions to explore a movement [he] felt drawn to.”
In April 2018, Logan states that at first he was drawn to the alt-right and then to the “Deseret-right“, because the alt-right rejects “true religion” and is open towards gays. For Mormon or Deseretian Nationalists like Logan, religion, specifically the Latter-day Saint religion, is paramount to nationalist ideology and it is crucial to understanding DezNat. For Logan, the ultimate outcome of Deseret Nationalism or DezNat is the “return of the sovereign state of Deseret under church government.”
sources: [1, 2]
Mormon Ethnonationalism
“theocracy is inevitable” Logan Smith as JPBellum
Logan Smith is a Mormon ethnonationalist. In the case of Mormon ethnonationalism, Logan describes DezNat or Deseret Nationalism as “the recognition that faithful [LDS or Mormon] members are a unique people and should be united spiritually, morally, economically, and politically behind Christ, the prophet, and the [LDS or Mormon] church.” Logan Smith believes that “if all [government] were gone tomorrow the [Mormon] church would fill that role.”
“I’m ok with being called a Deseret Nationalist. It’s like being called a Kingdom of God nationalist.” – Logan Smith as JPBellum
Using Irony and Religion to Avoid Criticism
Logan asserts that DezNat are just “faithful, unapologetic followers of the church, prophets, policies, and doctrines” and that “sometimes [they] use spicy memes to defend the faith.” This is the primary way DezNat avoids criticism from those that oppose the movement. In effect, DezNat is able to use the excuse of “defending the faith” as a cover of plausible deniability for racist, bigoted, and otherwise hateful rhetoric. “This is why #DezNat defends Brigham Young. Even when they call him all these horrible things he was still a prophet of God,” Logan explains, “If they can come for Brother Brigham they can come for any prophet they decide to disagree with.” Brother Brigham (Brigham Young) was the second prophet and president of the Mormon faith who is criticized as having taught racist theories as a part of early Mormonism. Logan has come to the defense of these critiques of Brigham Young several times saying, “Oh, I’m sure he said them or something very close to that. I am simply saying I don’t care that he did,” and “…we don’t care. Imagine that, a 19th-century man having a 19th century opinion. The horror,” and “Never said he wasn’t racist just that we don’t care.” According to the Mormon Church, “Over time, Church leaders and members advanced many theories to explain the priesthood and temple restrictions. None of these explanations is accepted today as the official doctrine of the Church,” (Further reading: LDS Church, Race and the Priesthood).
Logan tweets that he isn’t being serious when talking about Blood Atonement, a disputed doctrine that the Mormon church has disavowed. DezNat is known to use memes of Bowie knives and blood atonement to harass ex-Mormons and progressive Mormons. Using the defense of joking is a common tactic of extremists to avoid criticism (see NPR, How Extremists Use Irony to Weaponize Hate). That being said, Logan has plenty to say about blood atonement. He has stated, “Blood atonement is just another term for capital punishment in a theocratic government,” and in a follow-up tweet explains it by stating, “I know capital punishment isn’t linked to religion that’s why it was called blood atonement. Brutal is relative. England held its last drawing and quartering in the 1790’s so it wasn’t far removed. Your presentism is showing. Saudi Arabia still beheads people. Cultural bias.”
Logan also effectively preys upon the fears of historical attacks on Latter-day Saints by attesting that anyone who is against Mormon nationalism, Deseret nationalism or DezNat must be anti-Mormon with an ulterior motive to destroy his religion. For example, after we released our research on Deseret Nationalist Jack Jerman, Logan tweeted, “Just remember that in the coming days no matter what you hear about #DezNat we aren’t the real target, the Church of Jesus Christ is.” He continues his tweet by stating he would “disavow the tag if instructed by church leadership” and then concludes by stating that his enemies “want the Church’s $$$ and destroying its online defenders is step 1.”
Additionally, Logan Smith has been accused by hard-line Deseret Nationalists of being a disloyal optics cuck.
Attacks on LGBTQ at Brigham Young University
Logan Smith is a virulent homophobe and queerphobe. He has admitted to targeting a gay student to try to get them kicked out of Brigham Young University. He has also offered cash and gift cards for evidence that would result in the expulsion of so-called apostates, as well as progressive professors at BYU. On one occasion, he offered a $1,000 reward for evidence that would result in the expulsion of a gay student.
In October 2019, Logan tweeted, “Thinking of offering $100 Chick-fil-A gift card as a bounty for information/proof leading to the expulsion of an apostate from BYU.” Several DezNat-associated accounts replied to the tweet with suggestions on how to implement the “bounty.” One account going by Janessa Taylor replied, “I would just send a letter to the president of BYU and Elder Holland with all of [REDACTED]’s tweets and other questionable doctrines pushed by the Maxwell Institute.” Two days later he increased the bounty, offering a $200 bounty on BYU professors they deemed “apostate.” Other DezNat accounts chimed in offering to contribute to the bounty.
In November 2020, Logan Smith significantly increased the financial incentive to $1,000 for “information or proof of an honor code violation” that resulted in “[the gay student] expelled from BYU.” When another Twitter user replied negatively to the bounty, Logan doubled down on his offer by mocking him, “If you have credible info that hypothetical $1000 can be yours.”
Hank Smith Controversy
In April 2021, a Brigham Young University assistant teaching professor, Hank Smith, called a gay student “Korihor” in response to a tweet by Logan Smith (as JPBellum). Korihor is a Book of Mormon anti-Christ who was trampled to death for wickedness. Hank Smith had over 155,000 followers on Instagram and more than 30,000 followers on Twitter at the time of the hateful tweet [10].
source: [11]
The authors of this article were able to document two separate apologies made by Hank Smith as a result of his response to Logan Smith (JPBellum)–one of which was later deleted.
“I do need to apologize for calling [REDACTED] Korihor. That was unjustified and unfair. My emotions got the better of me. I am very sorry.” [https://archive.ph/1qWPH]
“I do need to apologize for calling [REDACTED] what I did. I deleted the reply. That was unjustified and unfair. My emotions got the better of me. I am very sorry.” [https://archive.ph/fig24] (deleted)
Anti-LGBTQ Hate Rallies at BYU – Umbrella Hate Symbolism
In early March 2021, a rally in support of LGBTQ+ students and faculty was held at Brigham Young University. In response, DezNat organized anti-LGBTQ hate rallies disguised as “Family Proclamation readings.” The JPBellum account was one of the main DezNat accounts that promoted the anti-LGBTQ hate rally framing it as “lgbtq activists…protesting church teachings.” On February 25, 2021 he tweets, “On March 4th lgbt activists are protesting church teachings on BYU campus. Instead, faithful members will show support for the Family Proclamation by wearing BYU swag and *carrying or wearing* an umbrella. Join us.”
Logan Smith’s account, JPBellum, also appears to be one of the first DezNat accounts to use and promote umbrella emojis as a queerphobic hate symbol within the online Twitter Latter-day Saint movement. The day before the March 2021 LGBTQ rally took place at BYU, Logan tweeted, “If you don’t have an umbrella [emoji] in your Display Name I am just going to assume you’re against the Family Proclamation.” (see #FamProc)
source: [14]
14 Words and Other White Supremacist References
Logan Smith has used a variation of the white supremacist slogan “14 words” mingled with Latter-day Saint imagery. The “14 Words” (see ADL, Hate Symbols: 14 Words) was coined by neo-Nazi David Lane, a member of the white supremacist terror organization The Order. The text of Lane’s slogan reads, “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children” in comparison to Logan’s text “The greatest legacy one can have is securing the existence of your people and a future for your children.”
If there is any question as to whether Logan Smith is familiar with the “14 Words”, when failed racist Utah senatorial candidate Samuel Parker replies, “The 19 words? Whew boy!” Logan reprimands him for confirming the reference.
“88” is the white supremacist numerical code for “Heil Hitler” where H is the eighth letter of the alphabet. It is one of the most common white supremacist symbols and is also used by neo-Nazis (see ADL, Hate Symbols, 88). On at least one occasion, Logan referenced this recognized hate symbol. In 2021 Logan Smith tweeted, “This tweet is 88 years too late,” in reference to another tweet about Germans. He later replies to the tweet stating the number was “purely coincidence.”
sources: [17]
Antisemitism
Logan Smith is a well-known antisemite who pushes holocaust denial. He has stated regarding Jews, “Imagine your entire social, political, religious, and cultural identity is framed by an event that happened two generations ago. Everything that happens to them is viewed through that lens. They cling to the holocaust because it defines them. Without it they have no context.” In the “Bunch of Latter-day Saints” Discord server, he stated, “To borrow a line from JBP maybe it doesnt matter if the holocaust happened or not, it’s more true than truth at this point so our decisions should be how do we interact with it rather than resist it.” “JBP” is Jordan B. Peterson, a far-right Canadian psychology professor whose teachings have attracted the admiration of those on the so-called alt-light, i.e. white nationalist conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich and Gavin McInnes, the founder of the violent neo-fascist street gang Proud Boys.
In addition to framing ex-Mormons, progressive Mormons, and LGBTQIA people as enemies to the Latter-day Saint faith, Logan Smith has also painted Jewish people as enemies to the Mormon faith and seems to think top LDS leadership does too. In the DezNat Discord server he states, “The Manhattan Temple was an F you to the Jews in White Plains who wouldn’t let it happen.”
Logan also has made statements repeating the white supremacist conspiracy theory that Jews are behind a secret globalist plot. In 2019 he tweeted that there is a “Globalist agenda to make everyone gay” that is “overseen by the Jews.”
Misogyny
Some of Logan Smith’s more disturbing statements are his beliefs about women. Logan supports repealing the 19th amendment to the U.S. constitution–the amendment that gave women the right to vote. Logan repeatedly uses the #Repealthe19th hashtag [22, 23, 24, 25] on social media and has tied it directly to his anti-feminist views, stating, “Feminism has only tried to homogenize the political power of women as a tool of progressives. Lump them in to [sic] the groupthink and harness their collective ballot power. #repealthe19th.” Additionally, Logan has stated “Nazis didn’t exist until after women got the vote.” He believes feminism is harmful to women. He has also made statements arguing that women destroy organizations when they are in leadership positions.
When Logan isn’t making thinly veiled jokes about women like this one about women’s menstrual cycles, he is proclaiming that women shouldn’t be allowed on the internet at all. In another tweet, Logan says, “Why they let women on Twitter I’ll never understand.” Logan’s wife, Antoinette Wright Smith, DezNat Twitter account was @SisterBellum.
Logan has stated he believes that the “first duty” of young women is “to get married and have babies (1st duty) instead of serving a mission.” In the Latter-day Saint religion, Mormon women can serve a mission at 19 years of age, and Logan is essentially saying that women should be getting married and having babies at that age. In another tweet he again stated his belief that women should get married young tying it to “falling fertility” rates.
When several women on Twitter claimed they were being harassed by DezNat when voicing their opinions to BYU professor Hank Smith after he called a gay student “Korihor”, Logan insulted the validity of their arguments by stating, “The amount of cope on display because their emotional hostage taking isn’t working is astounding.”
Identifying Logan Smith aka JPBellum of Pocatello, Idaho
Logan Starr Smith left several clues that helped us connect him to his pseudonymous DezNat account, JPBellum, such as his age, where he went on mission, as well as details about college, his location, his marriage and employment background. The account also attempted to throw off researchers by providing false information about their identity, i.e. a fake LinkedIn account and claiming their real name was “John Paul Bellum.”
AGE
“JPBellum” left clues about his age. He states that he watched the movie, Titanic, on a date while he still lived at home as a teenager. Using Mormon cultural traditions about dating we were able to narrow his age range to 39-41 years of age. Logan Starr Smith is 40 years old.
MISSION
The JPBellum account stated that he served his Mormon mission stateside in the East and that it was a Spanish-speaking mission with a high Cuban population. He also mentioned that he was not allowed to hike in the woods because of ticks. This led us to the Morristown New Jersey Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Images from Logan Smith’s now deleted Facebook profile showing images from when Logan was on his LDS mission.
COLLEGE
The JPBellum account revealed that he went to Ricks College while David Bednar was the president of the school. He also stated in another tweet that they went to Brigham Young University-Idaho where he met his wife. This tells us that he likely first attended Ricks College around 1999, left to go on a mission, and returned after the college had changed to a four year university and been renamed BYU-Idaho. We also had to account for time serving his LDS mission. This information aligns with Logan Smith’s archived LinkedIn and time at the school.
Images from Logan Smith’s now deleted Facebook page showing he and his wife (Antoinette Wright Smith) at Brigham Young University-Idaho in Rexburg, ID.
RELATIONSHIP/MARRIAGE
“JPBellum” gave us the timeline of his courtship and marriage, including his anniversary month which is November.
Screen [31] showing JPBellum DezNat account’s courtship timeline to his wife; Image from Logan Smith’s now deleted Facebook page showing his wedding anniversary is in November.
“JPBellum” also gave us clues to his location. We know from his tweets that he is from North California, probably near the Sacramento Temple. We also know that he was having a major life change in 2020 and that he has talked about moving out of California [32, 33]. Logan Smith and his wife recently moved from Fair Oaks, CA to Pocatello, ID.
EMPLOYMENT
“JPBellum” has given several clues as to his employment background: worked for his father’s family business, farm or agriculture related. The JPBellum account also appears to know a lot about egg and chicken production. That led us to an egg production business located in Fair Oaks, California, the owner of the company, and then his son, Logan Starr Smith.
CROSS-POSTING
After comparing images and information from both Logan Starr Smith and “JPBellum” accounts, we were able to see that he cross-posted images across platforms. One of the most damning images he cross-posted on his pseudonymous Twitter account was an image of a necktie he took in a selfie which he also used as his profile image on his personal YouTube account (recently changed). Another image he cross-posted was a “Santa” image which he posted on both Twitter and Facebook.
Recently, Logan’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts were all deleted, but not before we archived and saved the accounts.
Calls to Action
UPDATE: According to local news KPVI Logan Smith is no longer employed by ICCU after being connected to the JPBellum DezNat account.
1.) Logan Smith is currently employed as a Virtual Service Agent at Idaho Central Credit Union. Let Idaho Central Credit Union know they have an antisemtic, misogynistic, homophobic bigot who mingles white supremacy with Mormonism working for them:
TAG them on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Idaho_Central
Email: https://www.iccu.com/contact-us
2.) Logan Smith is an antisemite who mixes white supremacist and neo-Nazi symbolism with Mormonism. He is also a queerphobe and misogynist who has targeted a gay student and progressive professors at BYU by offering “bounties” (financial incentives) to get them kicked out of school.
Logan is a member of the Gwen Ward of the Pocatello Idaho Central Stake. Spread the word about Logan Smith to Logan’s bishop using the following information:
Tips
If you have additional information to share about Logan Smith or other Deseret Nationalists, email us at exposedeznat at riseup dot net. We do not share sources with anyone.
Email: exposedeznat at riseup dot net
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Logan Smith’s social media accounts:
Twitter (DELETED):
- Display Name: JPBellum, John Paul Bellum
- User Name: JPBellum *NOTE* this handle is currently being used by an anti-DezNat
- User Permalink: https://twitter.com/intent/user?user_id=
- Twitter ID:
Facebook: (DELETED)
