EDITORIAL: Going beyond the press release

Last week, the Justice Department sent out a press release about the indictment of a High Point man, Ariel E. Collazo Ramoz, on a single count of mailing threatening communications.

From the release: 

“Rabbi Elizabeth Bahar of Temple Beth Israel in Macon received a threatening postcard at her home via the US Postal Service on Feb. 1, 2024, allegedly from Collazo Ramos. On one side of the postcard, there was a handwritten message: ‘Is there a child rape, torture, and murder tunnel under your house? We have the Zyklon B. Use Code “GASTHEJEWS” for 10% off!’ The reverse side of the postcard displayed a hand-drawn image depicting a purported Jewish male wearing a rat costume and the words ‘JEWS ARE RATS.’”

The story got picked up by news outlets from here to Atlanta; on Sunday the Washington Post picked it up.

What all of these news reports have in common is that they merely cribbed details from the release and did no further investigation.

Had they even scratched the surface, they might have uncovered even more disturbing news about Ramoz and the company he owns.

Ramoz is known to Triad City Beat as the principal of Patriot Candle Co., owned by an LLC called LOG Enterprises; Ramoz is listed as founder on the NC Secretary of State website.

Patriot Candle’s website is down right now, but you can view a cached page here. 

Dig in a little and you’ll find, among the more innocuous candle scents like Georgia Peach and Lavender, some troubling ones such as 2 Genders, Leftist Tears, Thin Blue Line, The Führer (with a photo of Hitler on the glass), Zyklon B (the chemical used in the gas chambers) and Flammenwerfer (German for “flamethrower”).

To describe these wares as antisemitic is putting it mildly — Patriot Candle Co. is a hate merchant. What kind of sick fuck sells a Hitler candle? And what sort of asshole would buy one?

Based in High Point, Patriot Candle was selling their products at the Piedmont Triad Farmers Market until about a year ago, when social media outrage sparked multiple complaints.

It was likely an advertisement for his candle business that Ramoz is accused of sending to Temple Beth Israel. And while an indictment is by no means a guilty conviction, it doesn’t look too good for Ramoz.

But the real point here is the importance of local news, the power of institutional memory and the responsibility of due diligence. We’re not sure why no other news outlet bothered to do a little digging on this defendant. We’re just happy to be here to point this out.