If you’ve ever watched a movie about undercover cops, you probably think it’s all fast cars and high-stakes poker games. Honestly? It's usually a lot lonelier and weirder than that. Take Scott Payne, a guy who spent nearly three decades living a double life for the FBI.
His story, which he finally laid out in his 2025 memoir Code Name: Pale Horse: How I Went Undercover to Expose America’s Nazis, sounds like something a screenwriter dreamed up after a fever dream. But it's real. Very real.
Payne was a big, brawny guy with a South Carolina accent and a collection of tattoos that made him look like he belonged in a biker bar rather than an office building. The FBI realized this pretty early on. They dubbed him the “Hillbilly Donnie Brasco.”
The name fits. Like Joe Pistone before him, Payne had this uncanny ability to "befriend and betray," as the undercover mantra goes. He didn't just sit in a van with a headset; he was the guy in the room when things turned dark.
Who is Scott Payne?
Basically, Scott Payne was the FBI’s go-to guy for "rough" environments. He started out as a street cop and a sheriff’s deputy in Greenville, South Carolina, before joining the Bureau in 1998.
He didn't have the typical Ivy League resume. In fact, when he interviewed for his first law enforcement job, he supposedly listed all the minor crimes he’d gotten away with—petty theft, DUI, you name it—just to prove he knew how the "other side" thought. It worked.
💡 You might also like: Who is winning so far for president: The 2026 political reality check
Over 28 years, he infiltrated:
- The Outlaws Motorcycle Club (Operation Roadkill).
- Opioid trafficking rings in Tennessee.
- The Ku Klux Klan in Alabama (he actually got in by playing guitar).
- The Base (a neo-Nazi accelerationist group).
Through it all, he was a family man. He’d go from a weekend of drinking with 1-percenters or plotting with extremists to sitting in a church pew on Sunday morning with his wife and two daughters. That kind of mental whiplash would break most people.
What Happened with the Pale Horse and The Base?
The "Pale Horse" moniker comes from his final, and perhaps most terrifying, assignment. Around 2019, Payne began infiltrating a group called The Base.
Now, these weren't your "grandpa’s white supremacists" in hoods. These guys were "accelerationists." Their whole goal? Total societal collapse. They wanted to start a race war—they called it the "Boogaloo"—and they were training with tactical gear and semi-automatic weapons in the woods.
Payne used the alias "Scott Anderson," a South Carolina biker. To get in, he had to navigate a world of encrypted apps like Telegram and Gab.
That Night in the Georgia Woods
The most famous—and disturbing—incident from the Scott Payne Pale Horse era happened on Halloween night in 2019. Payne was deep in the Georgia backwoods with a cell of The Base.
They weren't just talking politics. They were performing a neo-pagan ritual.
The members slaughtered a goat and drank its blood. They were reportedly on LSD. Payne, the undercover agent and devout Christian, was standing right there, trying to figure out how to stop the sacrifice without getting himself killed. He couldn't stop the ritual, but he did stop the group from moving toward actual domestic terror attacks.
His work led to the arrest of several key members who were allegedly planning to murder journalists and attack infrastructure. It was the "roller coaster" from hell, but it arguably saved lives.
The Cost of the Double Life
You’ve got to wonder how someone stays sane doing this. Payne admits in his book—co-written with Michelle Shephard—that it wasn't easy. Undercover work is isolating. You're lying to everyone. You’re becoming friends with people you know you’re going to send to prison.
He developed a real bond with a biker named "Scott T" during his time with the Outlaws. He called it "as close a friendship as was possible." Then he had to take him down.
The mental toll is the part the movies skip. Payne talks about the "blurry line" between the performance and reality. When you're "Pale Horse," you have to act like a monster to catch monsters.
📖 Related: Live Canadian Election Results: Why the 2026 Numbers Feel Different
Why the Scott Payne Story Matters Now
We live in a time where domestic extremism is a constant headline. Scott Payne’s career provides a window into how these groups actually work.
They don't just recruit on street corners; they target "broken souls" online. They look for disaffected youth who want a sense of belonging. Payne saw that firsthand. He saw that communication and de-escalation were often more effective than "tough guy" tactics, even when he was surrounded by armed radicals.
Scott Payne Pale Horse isn't just a catchy title. It's a reference to the Book of Revelation: "And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death." For the extremist groups he dismantled, Payne was that horse.
Lessons from the Front Lines
If you're looking for a takeaway from Payne's 28-year career, it's probably this:
- Nuance is everything. These groups aren't monolithic. Some are "mainstream" pretenders, while others are full-blown "accelerationists" looking for chaos.
- The "Undercover School" is real. Payne eventually taught at the FBI's undercover school, passing on the "Befriend and Betray" tradecraft to the next generation.
- Digital is the new battlefield. Encryption and social media have made recruitment faster and more dangerous than the old-school Klan rallies.
If you want to understand the current landscape of American extremism, checking out Payne’s podcast appearances—like his two-part sit-down on the Jordan Harbinger Show or the CBC series White Hot Hate—is a good place to start. It’s gritty, it’s uncomfortable, and it’s a side of law enforcement most people will never see.
Next Steps:
To get the full, unvarnished story of the Georgia goat ritual and the take-down of The Base, pick up a copy of Code Name: Pale Horse or listen to the White Hot Hate: Agent Pale Horse podcast series for the actual audio from the investigations.