Federal agents have reportedly seized computer equipment from a Roanoke-based white supremacy group, at least temporarily shutting down a Web site used to spout racist rhetoric.

Overthrow.com, which is run by William White, the commander of the American National Socialist Workers Party, has been off-line since last weekend.

According to White, FBI agents armed with a search warrant removed computers and other equipment early Saturday morning from a Patterson Avenue building that houses his Internet operation.

The raid marks the latest chapter in a long-running investigation of White's online activities.

Although White and two other sources say a grand jury has been empaneled to hear testimony, any decision on whether to bring charges could be complicated by the fine line between free speech and criminal activity -- a line that legal experts say White is adept at straddling.

Earlier this week, White posted what appears to be a partial copy of the search warrant to a Yahoo message group. The warrant suggests that federal authorities are looking into an Overthrow posting that listed personal information about a juror in the case of a white supremacist convicted of plotting to kill a Chicago judge.

Other postings have included calls to lynch six black teenagers charged with assault in a case that prompted a civil rights demonstration last year in Jena, La.

More recently, the Web site carried images of presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, his head in the cross hairs of a rifle sight fashioned into a swastika, along with the headline "Kill This N-----?"

It was not clear this week whether the federal investigation of White includes the Obama material, which appears on the cover of an upcoming magazine to be published by ANSWP.

Scot Montrey, a spokesman for the U.S. Justice Department's civil rights division in Washington, said this week that an investigation of White is ongoing. Federal authorities first confirmed the investigation in September 2007, after Overthrow carried the headline "Lynch the Jena 6," along with what it said were the teens' home addresses and telephone numbers.

Asked about the reported seizure of White's computer equipment, Montrey referred questions to the FBI.

Dee Rybiski, a spokeswoman in the agency's Richmond office, said she could not comment on any investigation.

As for the Obama magazine cover, White said he has been contacted by members of the U.S. Secret Service. Malcolm Wiley, a spokesman for the Secret Service, said the agency does not comment on open investigations, "particularly those involving threats."

White, who said he was out of town during the FBI raid and came back to find his computer equipment missing, posted a portion of the search warrant in a chat room for national socialists.

The document -- five pages of what appears to be a warrant at least 19 pages long -- authorizes federal agents to seize electronic files and other records "that may contain all evidence of the crime of threatening Hale Juror A."

According to White, that's a reference to a juror in the case of Matthew Hale, a white supremacist convicted by a Chicago jury in 2004 of soliciting the murder of a federal judge.

White said he posted the juror's home address on his Web site but made no threats and encouraged no violence against the juror.

"They don't have anything criminal on me," White said of the federal investigation. "People are constantly filing bogus complaints against me. The Department of Justice has been trying desperately to find something against me."

The search warrant also covers "documents, photographs, or other information that shows an intent to intimidate or injure persons whose personal information has been posted in the same manor [sic] as Hale Juror A."

White has a long history of posting home addresses, telephone numbers and other information about people whose views or activities run counter to his neo-Nazi beliefs.

The contact information is often paired with veiled threats and suggestions. In the Jena 6 case, for example, his posting included the teens' addresses "in case anyone wants to deliver justice."

White also has posted contact information for Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts, an attorney he tangled with in a housing discrimination case out of Virginia Beach, and Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center, an Alabama organization that monitors hate groups.

Potok said Thursday that he was glad to hear that federal authorities are investigating White's activities.

"Bill White has been pushing hard on the legal boundaries of the First Amendment for a long time, and this time he may have finally crossed the line," he said of the reported postings about the federal juror in Chicago.

In an interview earlier this week, White said FBI agents rushed to close down his Web site the night of Oct. 10 after he posted a story claiming that they were enlisting drug dealers to infiltrate his group and then commit crimes that would be pinned on him.

"We have a serious problem with the FBI," White said. "What's happened is the FBI has decided to entrap me."

White said Thursday that he has ordered new computer equipment to replace what the FBI took and hopes to have his Web site back up within the next few days.

For months, White has been making online comments about what he calls an ongoing investigation of himself by a grand jury in U.S. District Court in Roanoke, and of efforts by FBI agents to follow and interrogate him.

Brian McGinn, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Roanoke, declined to comment on White's assertion that he is the subject of a grand jury investigation.

However, two sources who asked not to be identified have confirmed that they have personal knowledge of the grand jury. Neither source wanted to speak publicly about an investigation being conducted behind closed doors.

Court records of such proceedings, which would include the search warrant that White posted online, are usually sealed.

Although ANSWP does not espouse violence, White said, federal authorities have decided to take him down because of his views on race.

"Why does your newspaper publish crazy things about me that you know are not true? You want to silence my point of view," he said. "Why does the FBI make accusations against me they know are not true? Because they want to silence my point of view."

Since he arrived in Roanoke in 2003 and began to buy homes in the West End neighborhood for rental properties, White has been the subject of several investigations.

Attorneys have sought sanctions against him for his online comments, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development looked into complaints of housing discrimination related to his home rental business.

So far, the efforts have either produced no charges or court victories for White.

White said he expects the current investigation to be no different.

"They just know they're going to lose on this," he said. "They know they're going to lose, and that's why they haven't filed any charges."

News researcher Belinda Harris contributed information to this report.