reporter: it was the 1980s. patton was a runaway, homeless on the streets of los angeles. how the skinheads approached me was really with a business card. a business card is reserved for people who are successful, for people who are in business. reporter: so you thought they re successful. they re successful. reporter: i want to be like that. exactly. that s how it all started. it had nothing to do with ideology in the beginning. it had everything to do with wanting to be like them and wanting out of my bad situation. reporter: he came from a broken home. a single mom. she was jewish. the part that probably resonated with me in their message was i was angry. and so antisemitism was really saying i was anti- my family. reporter: patton became a skinhead. the movement which erupted across the u.s. in the 80s with violent attacks and murders, often targeting jews. he rose in the ranks, becoming a recruiter himself. patton said these days it s easier than ever to lure people in. these white supremacists are sitting at home today looking
West. i think it s a straightforward answer. it should not have happened period. good morning. morning. there s an endpidemic of hat facing our country. all of this prompted second gentleman doug emhoff to host a summit on anti-semitism. words matter. i can say that we re dealing with it at the highest level of our government. and they re not alone. the first way we got to start doing it is set achievable goals. damian patton once a skin head that recruited people on the streets is working on technology to curve anti-semitism online. social media companies were the great disruptors ten years ago. they needed to be disrupted today. meanwhile, law enforcement is focused on disrupting attacks from this rising hate. and for the ones that can t prevent, training for how to
reporter: the 19-year-old was radicalized online. we had hundreds of images he had downloaded from the internet. anything from antisemitism to celebration of the nazis, hitler. reporter: what do you think pushed him over the edge? the christchurch shooting. police in the city of christchurch responding. reporter: responding to an active shooter at a new zealand mosque who was livestreaming his killing spree and posting his manifesto online. it provided the blueprint of how to do it again. this is not outside of the box anymore. this is standard operating procedure for anti-semites and extremists. their recruiting is pretty sophisticated. reporter: recruitment into the world of hate is something damian patton understands well. this is ultimately where i was recruited into gangs. reporter: right here. right here.