An anonymous registrant in Florida purchased nazis.us and redirected it to dhs.gov, apparently as a protest against the Trump administration. TMZ and Mediaite verified the redirect, while the registrant did not reply to outreach. DHS told TMZ it had "successfully blocked" the redirect, but independent tests still found it active. The stunt comes amid criticism of DHS messaging and protests over immigration enforcement following the fatal shooting of ICE agent Renee Goodby.
Anonymous Floridian Registers 'nazis.us' and Redirects It to DHS — Agency Says It Tried to Block the Stunt
DHS website redirected from Nazis.us
An unidentified person in Florida registered the domain nazis.us and configured it to redirect to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's official site. The move appears to be a pointed online protest against the Trump administration and drew attention after several outlets verified the redirect.
GoDaddy's WHOIS records show the domain was registered on Jan. 13 by a registrant listing a Florida mailing address. Mediaite contacted the registrant via the domain contact form but received no response.
TMZ published a short video showing the redirect working on a mobile phone, and Mediaite's checks confirmed the address continued to point to dhs.gov when tested.
"We've successfully blocked the redirect," DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told TMZ. Despite that assertion, reporters and independent tests found the redirect still active at the time of verification.
Context
The incident arrives amid heightened criticism of DHS for social-media content that critics say resembles imagery and slogans used by Nazis and other white-supremacist groups — including controversial repurposing of Norman Rockwell paintings. It also coincides with protests over the administration's immigration enforcement policies after the fatal shooting of ICE agent Renee Goodby in Minneapolis.
What This Demonstrates
Technically, anyone who registers a domain can point it to any active website, making such symbolic stunts easy to execute. The episode underscores how simple web redirects can be used to draw attention to political controversies and to challenge public messaging from government agencies.
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