Aryans
Gather, Hope for "Ethnic Cleansing"
The Aryan Nations once again held its summer World Congress in northern Idaho. In late June, 70-80 people attended the racist gathering held at Farragut State Park. Aryan Nations leader Richard Butler told the press that the event was a "prelude to the awakening of the White race" and that they prayed for "an eventual ethnic cleansing" of people of color and Jews.
The Aryan World Congress featured racist speakers from across the country. One featured speaker was Billy Roper of White Revolution. Roper started his group after he was kicked out of the National Alliance during a power struggle resulting from the death of the Alliance's founder, William Pierce. Roper promotes White Revolution as a vehicle to unite groups in the hate movement by focusing on their common enemies.
Members of the Minnesota-based National Socialist Movement also attended the Aryan Nations event. Led by Jeff Schoep, the organization caters to neo-Nazi skinheads. The group's members wore Hitler-styled uniforms while at the event. Along with Schoep, the National Socialist Movement's Tim Bishop came to the World Congress. Bishop was a longtime Aryan Nations activist, serving as Butler's chief of staff and as a state contact point. Bishop left his position as chief of staff in the mid-1990s when he was accused of stealing money from Aryan Nations.
Another participant at the Congress was Hal Turner, host of "The Hal Turner Show," a program based in New Jersey. Turner's show features his rants against "savage Negro beasts" and "lazy-ass Latinos·slithering across the border with wet backs." It has also been reported that his show advertised a fictional product called the "Portable Nigger Lyncher" and a video game by the National Alliance called "Ethnic Cleansing."
Bradley Jenkins was a featured speaker at the racist event. He is the Imperial Wizard of the Alabama-based Aryan Nations Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. The group formed earlier this year after Aryan Nations' Ray Redfeairn brokered an alliance between Aryan Nations and the Klan. Jenkins also supervised the cross burning at the Congress.
Also during the Congress, Ray Redfeairn formally accepted the designation as Butler's successor to the throne of Aryan Nations. Since serving 12 years in prison for shooting a law officer, Redfeairn has had a volatile history with Aryan Nations. He was initially named the group's successor in 2001. Shortly thereafter, he and August Kreis, another Aryan Nations officer, moved the group's headquarters to Pennsylvania and said it was no longer affiliated with Butler. In May 2002, Redfeairn fired Kreis and returned the hate group to Butler . He said at the Congress that Aryan Nations would stay in Idaho after Butler dies, and he plans to move to the area from Ohio. Aryan Nations' website stated that none of the people involved with the Pennsylvania group would be allowed to attend the World Congress, and that these people were thought of "in the same category as·the nigger and Jew."
Aryan Nations held the World Congress as it continues to struggle. For many years, Aryan Nations held the event at the group's compound. However, a jury held Butler responsible for an assault on a mother and her son in 2000 and slapped a $6.3 million judgment against the group. The judgment bankrupted Aryan Nations, and it was forced to sell its compound. Butler now lives in a donated house in Coeur d'Alene. He is 85 years old and suffers from congestive heart failure.