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White supremacist leaves Montana 
 Long-time Christian Identity activist and former Aryan Nations assistant pastor, Larry McCurry, recently left Thompson Falls.  Following a mill closure two years ago, McCurry retrained as an avionics installer and now has a job with Raytheon Corp. in Wichita, Kansas.  In the early 1990's McCurry and his family were featured in a story in Redbook magazine entitled "Hate in America: A Family Portrait."  The caption under their picture reads, "Meet the McCurrys.  They despise blacks, Jews, Asians, and other nonwhites; oppose women's rights and democracy; are teaching their 13-year-old son about Nazis and burning crosses; and they're among a growing number of families who are joining hate groups across the nation."  McCurry severed ties with Richard Butler and the Aryan Nations as part of an organizational shake-up in 1992, but did not publicly renounce his racist beliefs. 

Blackfeet Indians assaulted by Valier bar owner 
 In 1994, three Blackfeet tribal members from Heart Butte claim Robert Kovatch and four acquaintances ran them off the road, assaulted them using racial epithets, and held one of them against his will.  Kovatch, the owner of a bar in Valier where he claimed one of the Blackfeet had an unpaid bill, pled guilty to misdemeanor assault December 13th .  He was fined $330, ordered to pay $576 in restitution, and given a six-month deferred sentence.  No other charges were filed.  The three victims have filed a civil rights suit against Kovatch, Keith VandenBos, Jared VandenBos, Mike O'Neal, and Chuck DeBoo.  

Militia spokesman, "Mark from Michigan" Koernke  
arrested for assault 
 A militia activist who toured Montana during the heyday of the public organizing of the Militia of Montana in 1994, was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon on November 14th .  Mark Koernke, a maintenance worker at the University of Michigan, threatened an official who was attempting to serve him with a subpoena.  Koernke met the process server with a MAC-90 assault rifle, grabbed and crumpled the subpoena, then rammed the rifle's barrel into the server three times, bloodying the man.  Koernke was arrested later by campus police at work and was released after posting bond.  He was being subpoenaed as a witness in a murder trial.  One of Koernke's militia followers was killed in 1994, allegedly by members of a rival militia faction who accused the victim of being a spy for Koernke. 

Denver stunned by skinhead violence 
 On November 19th a racist skinhead in Denver shot and killed a West African immigrant at a bus stop, and then gunned down a white nurse who rushed to his aid.  The nurse was left paralyzed from the waist down.  Nathan Thill, 19, brazenly admitted in a television interview that he didn't want to live in a world with blacks.  "I guess it's sort of a thing that I love my own people and I'd like to see a place where just we could be," he said.  A week earlier, a police officer was killed in a shootout with a white skinhead, Mattheaus Jaehnig, who then took his own life.  A dead pig bearing the slain officer's name was left outside the police station the day after the officer's funeral.  The violence continued on November 27th , when a black woman was beaten by six skinheads in a Denver convenience store. 

Anti-pornography ordinances gain split decision at the ballot box 
 Six of the ten local anti-pornography ordinances being pushed by a right-wing group failed at the ballot box on November 4th.  The ordinances, which set new and vague definitions of pornography, were successful in Ronan, St. Ignatius, Clyde Park, and Manhattan.  A last minute campaign against the ordinance by a group of high school students and the library board helped defeat the measure in Polson.  Belt, Neihart, Three Forks, Broadview, and Livingston joined Polson in rejecting the ordinance.  Opponents argue that librarians, schools and museums could face jail time for unwittingly displaying works of ark or classic literature deemed obscene under the new ordinance.  The Montana Citizens for Decency Through Law circulated their initiative petitions in 19 communities across the state.  Attempts to qualify the initiative failed in Billings, Laurel, Kalispell, West Yellowstone, Whitefish, Melstone and Cascade.  The proposal will be on the ballot in the spring in Columbia Falls and Roundup. 

Right wing radio show burns--the conspiracy theories begin 
 A right-wing radio station in Colorado was gutted by fire on November 29th.  Within two days of the fire, investigators proved that the blaze resulted from a hot plate that had been left on in the building.  That didn't stop the conspiracy theories from flying.   An unidentified Internet writer suggested that the arsonist started a rumor that the militia stored ammunition at the station in order to keep fire fighters at a distance, allowing the station to burn down.  He writes, "A very old arsonists tool is to place oil (kerosene or cooking) on a hot plate, have a timer set, the timer being cheap and plastic would be totally destroyed and the only item left would be the porcelain from the hot plate." The station, KHNC, airs the  American Freedom Network, a show that promotes survival gear, the "patriot" movement and extreme right-wing philosophy.   When the Montana freemen were under siege during their 81-day standoff with the FBI in 1996, they managed to reach the show and air their grievances before their phone lines were cut. 

Murder suspect has Montana ties 
 Last February, Chevie and Cheyne Kehoe, white supremacists and occasional residents of northwest Montana, fled the scene of a shootout with Ohio police. Footage of the shootout was captured by police cameras and broadcast across the nation. Fugitives for over four months, Cheyne turned himself in last June and led authorities to his older brother.  In December, a federal grand jury in Little Rock, Arkansas accused Chevie Kehoe of conspiring to create a new nation, the Aryan People's Republic.  He and Daniel Lewis Lee, 24, of Oklahoma City were named in an indictment alleging racketeering, conspiracy and murder.   Kehoe and Lee are accused of the March 1995 murders of Arkansas gun dealer William Mueller, his wife and his 8-year-old daughter.  Part of the Mueller gun collection was found in Kehoe's vehicle, and paint chips from the vehicle matched those found on the duct tape used to bind the victims.  One of Mueller's guns was found in possession of Kehoe's father, Kirby, who was served a summons in Troy  last June.   Kirby Kehoe was later released on bond to his home near Yaak.  Lee reportedly told a friend he  "waxed some people, wrapped them up and threw them in a swamp." 

Billings freeman to appear at extremist conference 
 Randy Parsons, a freeman sympathizer who started a support group for the freeman during their 81-day standoff with the FBI, is billed as a speaker at the May 1998 Jubilation Conference.  The conference, sponsored by the racist Christian Identity publication, The Jubilee, is well-known as a major gathering of racist activists.  Courts in Montana have been ordered not to accept filings from Parsons because of his history of filing meaningless freeman-type documents.  Parsons also supported former Cascade mayor, Tom Klock, in his bid to deposit false money orders signed by LeRoy Schweitzer into the town's account and to declare Cascade a freeman enclave. 

Trochmann appears at Conspiracy Theory Expo with James Nichols 
 With less emphasis on local public meetings as a recruiting mechanism for the Militia of Montana, John Trochmann has increased his visibility at gun shows and survival "expos" across the country.  In November in Columbus, Ohio, he appeared at what was billed as the first-ever Conspiracy Theory Expo.  A Preparedness and Self-Reliance Expo going on at the same time featured workshops on farming techniques and wilderness survival skills.  Around the corner, the Conspiracy Theory Expo offered an ocean of Patriot literature and videotapes.  James Nichols, brother of alleged Oklahoma City bomber Terry Nichols; Larry Pratt, head of the right-wing Gun Owners of American; and recently arrested militia figure, Mark Koernke, were featured guests along with Trochmann.  In the past four months, Trochmann has also attended Preparedness Expos in Indianapolis, Portland, St Louis, and Denver. 
 
Freight Train Riders back in the news 
 The Montana Supreme Court ordered a new trial for Douglas Castle, a member of a loose-knit white supremacist group that rides the rails.  Castle was convicted of murdering a fellow transient in Laurel in 1995 because he criticized the Freight Train Riders of America (FTRA).  Members of the violent group are suspected in scores of murders across the country.  Last September, Steve Cook, a.k.a. "Tornado," pled guilty to assault with an ax-handle on a fellow transient near Townsend.  Members of the FTRA in Helena at the time, met with a reporter from the Townsend Star, to complain about the characterization of the group as racist and violent. 

Montana loses two human rights advocates 
 Rev. Bob Freeman, 81, pastor of Billings Wayman African Methodist Episcopal Church for 40 years, died in October of cancer.  Freeman was active in the Billings Coalition for Human Rights, the Billings Police Commission and the South Side Task Force.  Bonnie Heavy-Runner Craig, 46, a Blackfeet Indian who launched the Native American Studies program at UM, died of cancer on November 24th. 

Boharski new mayor of Kalispell 
 One the legislature's most outspoken opponents of human rights has been elected mayor of Kalispell.  During the last legislative session, Rep. Bill Boharski (R--Kalispell) quoted Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in his unsuccessful efforts to eliminate affirmative action as a remedy for past discrimination in Montana.  He has also been a sharp critic of equal rights for lesbians and gay men, sponsoring the successful bill to prohibit gay marriages.  Boharski has taken hard line anti-government stances.  Boharski, who must give up his legislative seat, easily outdistanced his mayoral opponents, capturing 47% of the vote in a four-way race. 

Anti-abortion activist convicted of arson 
 John Yankowski, a Bozeman-area anti-abortion activist, was caught last April crouched amid the flames on the roof of the building housing the Mountain Family Planning Clinic.  On December 2nd , the jury deliberated less than an hour in finding Yankowski guilty of arson.  On the day of his arrest, Yankowski, who claimed the fires were "symbolic," said it would be "an honor to go to prison for babies."  He faces 30 years and a $500,000 fine at his sentencing next March. 

Tribal Sovereignty under attack 
 On December 7th, the Billings Gazette editorialized against tribal sovereignty, claiming it is "intolerant of unity."  Sounding like anti-Indian groups, the editorial called sovereignty "a failed political and societal fence that prevents fairness and equity."  On December 11th, Sen. Conrad Burns unveiled draft legislation to "clarify" (meaning "end") tribal jurisdiction over non-Indians on the reservation.  Burns didn't consult tribes and in fact chose to announce the plan at the Montana Stockgrowers Association convention.  Representatives of all Montana tribes have denounced the proposal as an attack on sovereignty.  On December 16th , the Gazette editorialized again, in support of Burns proposal. 

Freeman Sullivan pays taxes 
 It was a brand new tactic for the freemen.  On September 22, freemen supporter William David Sullivan, Jr., trying to save his property from foreclosure, paid his decade-old property tax bill with a $13,000 postal money order.  The county treasurer checked with the Post Office to make sure the money order was authentic. (It was).  Sullivan had the entire transaction videotaped. 

Suspect caught in Montana abortion clinic fires 
 Federal prosecutors allege that Richard T. Andrews' campaign to destroy abortion clinics in the west extended into Montana.  Circumstantial evidence links him to fires at Planned Parenthood in Helena in 1992, the Blue Mountain Clinic in Missoula in 1993, and the Armstrong Clinic in Kalispell in 1994.  Andrews is also charged with three fires in Idaho and California, where legal action is proceeding. 

Roger Roots urges patriots to appeal to Christian emotion 
 Roger Roots, a white supremacist from Big Timber who recently lost his libel suit against the Network, urged his fellow patriots to appeal to Christian emotion as a legal strategy.  Characterizing the trial he initiated as "tribulation foisted upon Christians," Roots writes, "Appealing to Christian emotion is a very powerful technique. Christian patriots would gain a lot more ground if they better understood that."  His article appeared in the far-right, anti-Semitic, white-supremacist publication, The Jubilee. 

Two convicted freemen sentenced 
 Casey Clark, 22, who pled guilty in September to helping other freemen avoid arrest, was sentenced to the 14 months he'd already served and two years supervision.  He was released into custody of his mother.  His father, grandfather and two other relatives are awaiting trial along with others who engaged in an 81-day standoff with the FBI in 1996.  Stewart Waterhouse, supporter from Arkansas who joined the freemen two days into their standoff, was sentenced to 24 months and three years supervision.