In 2004, Hawke was sued by AOL under the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 for spamming thousands of email addresses with millions of junk mail as part of his internet advertisement business for non-existent goods and services.

Hawke had already gained media attention in 1999 as a college student for starting two neo-Nazi groups that publicly had the goal to "make the Final Solution a reality",[1] before it was revealed that he had been hiding the fact that he was actually Jewish,[2] leading to him being dubbed "Spam Nazi" by the press following the AOL lawsuit.

[5] Hawke later asserted that Greenbaum was his stepfather and that his biological father was a German immigrant surnamed "Dekker", who his mother supposedly had an affair with, a claim both of his parents denied.

[11] Under the pseudonym of "Bo Decker," he began selling Nazi merchandise and offering membership to his internet neo-Nazi group "Knights of Freedom" out of Walpole[12] and later the American Nationalist Party.

[16] In March 1999, an article by the Southern Poverty Law Center made mention of his familial background, after which he was denounced by his constituents, including Tom Metzger, and threatened with legal actions by the Nationalist Movement if he continued to claim association.

[17] Following the Columbine High School massacre, Hawke was interviewed for a Fox News segment to provide insight into right-wing ideology, as the perpetrators Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were known to have interests in neo-Nazism.

Both were responsible for millions of spam mails for a range of products, including "human growth hormone, free government grants, inkjet-printer refills, extended car warranties [and] 'eBay secrets'",[3] though their most common and successful venture were ads for an herbal (Yohimbe) "penis enhancement" pill called "Pinacle".

[16] Hawke was found shot to death and burned in his vehicle on Cheekye Forest Road in Squamish in 2017, where he had been living as a dirtbag climber under the name Jesse James.