The group's existence caused a series of nationally reported controversies and accusations of promoting racial bigotry and white supremacy.
[8] Heimbach said he started the group because of "a culture of crime where primarily it's nonwhites doing it to white students and we perpetually have to live in a system of victimhood.
"[12] The WSU received national attention for participating in community watch programs to "raise awareness" about violent crime that is primarily directed at the majority-white student body.
The Southern Poverty Law Center said that the patrols were "a fairly obvious allusion, it appears, to the terroristic role of the Ku Klux Klan during Reconstruction.
[15] In 2015, Facebook pages appeared announcing "White Student Unions" at over 25 major United States colleges.