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Richard and Deon Masker's volatile relationship with Kootenai County officials in Idaho has settled down, at least temporarily. The dispute between the white supremacists and county officials centers on $11,000 in taxes that the Maskers hadn't paid. They had agreed to a payment plan, but made only six payments. Last November they threatened to kill any official who tried to take their property. The house in Hayden Lake was seized without incident in June. However, before it was auctioned off, the publisher of an anti-government newsletter came up with enough money to pay the Maskers' debt.

Richard Masker is an associate of Richard Butler and Aryan Nations. In fact, he lived at the hate group's former compound in Hayden Lake for awhile. He was fired from a job in Oregon when he distributed Adolph Hitler birthday cards, and he hosts a radio show that has featured racists like the World Church of the Creator's Matt Hale and attorney Kirk Lyons. Deon Masker frequently posts e-mails to a Christian Identity list. Identity, the religion practiced by Aryan Nations, teaches that people of color are sub-human "mud people," and Jews are the literal children of Satan.

The latest person to help out the Maskers was North Carolina's David Robinson, publisher of the anti-government The Patriot. He collected over $11,000 to pay off the Maskers' tax debts. According to Richard Masker, Robinson raised the money from anti-government "patriots," home schoolers and others. The money assures that, even if the Maskers don't pay future property taxes, they could not lose their home until 2006. The Maskers have recently put their home up for sale. Masker told the press he and his wife will not be leaving Idaho. "I'm sure that is what the county wants. But no we are going to stay in the state," he said. "We are going to fight the good fight."

The anti-Semitic American Free Press has covered the dispute over the Maskers' property. Masker told the tabloid that property taxes are "The Communist Manifesto." He also said that his current problems are because he is not politically correct, and that he and his wife were forced to sign the payment agreement. "It was like they were putting a gun to our head: we were signing a contract under duress," he said. "It was extortion and intimidation." His anti-Semitism also showed in these interviews. He said, "Our own race seems to be more and more traitorous as the Zionist propaganda machine seems to kick into higher and higher gear."