Biography: James Dennis Ellison was an American white supremacist from San Antonio, Texas. In 1971, he founded the radical organization The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord (CSA). Ellison purchased a 250-acre (1.0 km²) strip of land near Elijah, Missouri, and he constructed his compound on it. He was also a close associate of Richard Wayne Snell and Timothy McVeigh.