Editing Aryan Nations (section)

==History==
[[File:Flag of Aryan Nations (alternate).svg|left|thumb|175x175px|Alternate flag]]
[[File:Flag of Aryan Nations.svg|left|thumb|175x175px|Flag used by the Aryan Nations in the 2000's <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/styles/cropped_img_md/public/2018-05/loyal%20white%20knights%20and%20aryan%20nations%20in%20texas%20july%202016%20from%20vkdotcom_0.jpg?itok=WBdLBJmS|format=jpg|title=A bunch of racists|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190827132737/https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/styles/cropped_img_md/public/2018-05/loyal%20white%20knights%20and%20aryan%20nations%20in%20texas%20july%202016%20from%20vkdotcom_0.jpg?itok=WBdLBJmS|archive-date=2019-08-27|access-date=2023-08-20|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ajc.com/rf/image_inline/Pub/p7/AJC/2016/06/22/Images/photos.medleyphoto.10267262.jpg|title=Hitler's fan club|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626151610/https://www.ajc.com/rf/image_inline/Pub/p7/AJC/2016/06/22/Images/photos.medleyphoto.10267262.jpg|archive-date=2019-06-26|format=jpg|access-date=2023-08-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.splcenter.org/sites/default/files/group_images/SPLC-Intelligence-Files-Groups-Aryan-Nations-1280x720.jpg|title=A group of people with flags - some with a target on their chest|format=jpg|access-date=2023-08-20}}</ref>]]
Aryan Nations beliefs are based on the teachings of [[Wesley A. Swift]], a leading figure in the early [[Christian Identity]] movement.<ref name=AN_Intel_Files/> Swift was originally exposed to [[British Israelism]] while at the [[Angelus Temple]]<ref name = "jhs">{{cite journal|title=Justification by Race: Wesley Swift's White Supremacy and Anti-Semitic Theological Views in His Christian Identity Sermons|author=Bochicchio, Ana|publisher=Gonzaga University|date=October 5, 2021|journal=Journal of Hate Studies |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages= 35–51|doi=10.33972/jhs.183 |s2cid=241056514 |doi-access=free|hdl=11336/145441|hdl-access=free}}</ref> through the teachings of visiting minister [[Gerald Burton Winrod]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/cgs/1938/11/24/01/article/118/?e=-------he-20--1--img-txIN%7ctxTI--------------1|title=Protests Winrod Appearance|publisher=The Sentinel|date=July 24, 1938}}</ref>  Swift was also exposed to [[Charles Parham]]'s British Israel teachings at the Angelus Temple.<ref name = "jhs"/> Combining [[British Israelism]], extreme [[antisemitism]], and political militancy, Swift later founded his own church in [[California]] in the mid-1940s known as the Anglo-Saxon Christian Congregation. He hosted a daily radio broadcast in California during the 1950s and 1960s. In 1957, the name of his church was changed to the [[Church of Jesus Christ–Christian]], a name which continues to be used by Aryan Nations churches.<ref name="ADL-AryanN">{{cite web|url=https://www.adl.org/news/article/extremism-in-america-aryan-nationschurch-of-jesus-christ-christian |title=Extremism in America: Aryan Nations/Church of Jesus Christ Christian|publisher=[[Anti-Defamation League]]|year=2007|access-date=June 16, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Barkun |first=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gY6OzgEACAAJ |title=Religion and the Racist Right: The Origins of the Christian Identity Movement |date=1994 |publisher=University of North Carolina Press |isbn=978-0-8078-4451-9 |language=en}}</ref>{{Rp|page=70}}

[[William Potter Gale]] introduced [[Richard Butler (white supremacist)|Richard Girnt Butler]] to Swift in 1962.<ref name="levitas">{{cite book 
|first=Daniel
|last=Levitas
|title=The Terrorist Next Door: The Militia Movement and the Radical Right
|publisher=[[Thomas Dunne Books]]
|year=2002
|location=New York
|isbn=0-312-29105-1  
|url-access=registration
|url=https://archive.org/details/terroristnextdoo00levi
|access-date=February 16, 2021
}}</ref>{{rp|110}} Swift quickly converted Butler, who was an admirer of [[Adolf Hitler]] and Wisconsin Senator [[Joseph McCarthy]], to Christian Identity. When Swift died in 1971, Butler fought against Gale, James Warner, and Swift's widow for control of the Church of Jesus Christ–Christian. Butler eventually gained control of the organization and moved it from California to Idaho in 1973.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Aryan Nations/Church of Jesus Christ Christian|url=https://www.adl.org/education/resources/profiles/aryan-nations|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620131258/https://www.adl.org/education/resources/profiles/aryan-nations |archive-date=2017-06-20 |access-date=February 4, 2021|website=adl.org|publisher=[[Anti-Defamation League]]}}</ref><ref name="kaplan">{{cite book
|editor-last=Kaplan
|editor-first=Jeffrey
|editor-link=Jeffrey Kaplan (academic)
|title=Encyclopedia of White Power: a Sourcebook on the Radical Racist Right
|publisher=[[AltaMira Press]]
|date=2000
|isbn=0-7425-0340-2
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nNWbbhUYv8oC
|access-date=February 9, 2021
}}</ref>{{rp|298}} After moving to Idaho, Butler founded Aryan Nations as a paramilitary wing of the church with an ideological mixture of [[Christian Identity]] and [[Nazism]].{{Cn|date=January 2024}}

From 1974 until 2001, the Aryan Nations headquarters was located in a 20-acre (8.1 ha) compound 1.8 miles (3&nbsp;km) north of [[Hayden, Idaho]].<ref name="ADL-AryanN" /> Aryan Nations had a number of state chapters, but it was highly decentralized and the chapters' ties to the organization's headquarters were extremely loose. The group hosted an annual World Congress of Aryan Nations at Hayden Lake for Aryan Nations members and members of similar groups.<ref name="ADL-AryanN" />

Aryan Nations had difficult relations with the city of [[Coeur d'Alene, Idaho|Coeur d'Alene]].  In 1986-1987, there were a series of bombings of the homes of local human rights activists, after which, the city and Aryan Nations left each other alone.  In 1998, Aryan Nations applied for a permit for a march in downtown Coeur d'Alene.  Although the permit was approved, the city declared a public holiday on the same day, resulting in an empty downtown of closed businesses.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Kaplan |first=Jeffrey |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nNWbbhUYv8oC |title=Encyclopedia of white power: a sourcebook on the radical racist right |date=2000 |publisher=Altamira press |isbn=978-0-7425-0340-3 |location=Walnut Creek |pages=7–8}}</ref>

Until 1998, the leadership of Aryan Nations remained firmly in the hands of [[Richard Butler (white supremacist)|Richard Girnt Butler]]. By that time, he was over 80 years old, and his health was poor. As Butler's health deteriorated, so did his ability to lead the group.  This led to a series of violent events in Coeur d'Alene involving [[White power skinhead|skinheads]] who had infiltrated the group.<ref name=":0" />

At the annual Aryan Nations World Congress in 2001, Neuman Britton was appointed to lead Aryan Nations as Butler's successor. Following Neuman's death in August 2001,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-aug-21-me-36591-story.html|title=White Supremacist Leader Dies|first=L. A. Times|last=Archives|date=August 21, 2001|website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> Butler appointed Harold Ray Redfeairn of Ohio to lead Aryan Nations as his successor;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/article/9434dc23e992e92fcac4e5dbb1e6a14f|title=Harold Ray Redfeairn, Aryan Leader, Dies|website=AP NEWS}}</ref> he had been agitating for control of the organization since the mid-1990s. Redfeairn had brought in Dave Hall, an [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] informant who exposed the group's illegal activities.<ref>Hall, Dave; Tym Burkey, Katherine Ramsland (2008). {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20090113234732/http://www.intothedevilsden.com/listentointerviews.html ''Into the Devil's Den'']}} (1st ed.). New York: Ballantine Books. {{ISBN|0-345-49694-9}}.</ref> After this was discovered, Redfeairn was distrusted by some in the group. Redfeairn and [[August Kreis III]], the propaganda minister for Aryan Nations, formed a splinter group, and Butler expelled them from Aryan Nations.

A few months later, Redfeairn returned to form an alliance with Butler.<ref name="ADL-AryanN"/> Butler's 2002 World Congress drew fewer than 100 people, and when he ran for mayor, he lost, garnering only 50 votes against more than 2,100 votes.<ref name="ButlerObit">{{cite news |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F50D1EF93C540C7A8CDDA00894DC404482|title=Richard G. Butler, 86, Dies; Founder of the Aryan Nations|work=[[The New York Times]] |date=September 9, 2004|first=Daniel J.|last=Wakin|access-date=June 16, 2017}}</ref> Redfeairn died in October 2003,<ref>{{cite news |title=Harold Ray Redfeairn, Aryan Leader, Dies|publisher=[[Associated Press]]|date=October 26, 2003}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=116 |title=At Death's Door |publisher=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]] |date=Fall 2003 |access-date=August 22, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070807035018/http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=116 |archive-date=August 7, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and Butler died of [[heart failure]] in September 2004.<ref name="ADL-AryanN"/> At the time of Butler's death, Aryan Nations had about 200 actively participating members.

===Shooting, lawsuit and breakup===
<!--linked from redirect [[Keenan v. Aryan Nations]]-->
In September 2000, the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]] (SPLC) won a $6.3 million judgment against Aryan Nations from an [[Idaho]] jury, who awarded punitive and compensatory damages to plaintiffs Victoria Keenan and her son Jason. The two Native Americans had been beaten with rifles by Aryan Nations security guards in [[Coeur d'Alene, Idaho|Coeur d'Alene]], Idaho in July 1998.<ref>{{cite news|first=Raju |last=Chebium |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2000/LAW/09/08/morris.dees.profile/ |title=Attorney Morris Dees pioneer in using 'damage litigation' to fight hate groups |agency=[[CNN]] |date=September 8, 2000 |access-date=June 16, 2017 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://archive.today/20041224081646/http://archives.cnn.com/2000/LAW/09/08/morris.dees.profile/ |archive-date=December 24, 2004}}</ref><ref name="AryanNations">{{cite news|url=https://www.splcenter.org/seeking-justice/case-docket/keenan-v-aryan-nations|title=Keenan v. Aryan Nations|publisher=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]]|year=2000|access-date=June 16, 2017}}</ref> The woman and her son were driving near the Aryan Nations compound when their car [[Back-fire|backfired]], which the guards claimed to misinterpret as gunfire.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2000-09-08|title=Jury Verdict Could Bankrupt Aryans|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-sep-08-mn-17576-story.html|access-date=2021-01-13|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}}</ref> The guards fired at the car, striking it several times. The car crashed and one of the Nations guards held the Keenans at gunpoint, beating them. Two of the assailants, Aryan Nations security chief Edward Jessie Warfield and guard John Yeager, were prosecuted for the attack. Warfield pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and was sentenced to two to five years in prison. Yeager entered an [[Alford plea]] for assault and was sentenced to up 2.5 years in prison. A third attacker was never found.<ref name="Seattle Times" /><ref name="AryanNations" />

The SPLC filed suit on behalf of the Keenans. A jury found that Butler and Aryan Nations were grossly negligent in selecting and supervising the guards, and awarded the Keenans $6.3 million.<ref name="AryanNations"/> A local attorney from Keenan's legal team said that the large verdict was partly to compensate the Keenans, but largely to punish Butler and his followers, and serve to deter similar conduct in the future.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/sep/07/north-idaho-marks-10-years-aryan-nations-verdict/ |title=North Idaho marks 10 years since Aryan Nations verdict|work=Spokesman|date=September 7, 2010}}</ref>

The $6.3 million verdict caused Butler to file for bankruptcy one month later.<ref>{{cite news |title=Idaho 'Hate Compound' Converted Into Peace Park - 2002-08-14 |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-a-2002-08-14-19-idaho-67436557/384473.html |access-date=July 17, 2018 |work=VOA |date=October 29, 2009 |language=en}}</ref> As part of the bankruptcy process, the group's property was put up for auction. SPLC loaned the Keenans $95,000 to bid on the 20-acre property.<ref>{{cite news |title=Pair Who Sued Hate Group to Buy Compound at Auction |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-feb-08-mn-22878-story.html |access-date=July 17, 2018 |agency=Associated Press |date=February 8, 2001}}</ref> In February 2001, the group's Hayden Lake compound and intellectual property, including the names "Aryan Nations" and "Church of Jesus Christ Christian", were transferred to the Keenans.<ref name="AryanNations" /> Idaho native and millionaire philanthropist Greg Carr purchased the property from the Keenans, donating it to the [[North Idaho College]] Foundation. It has been converted to a park dedicated to peace.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Boggs |first1=Alison |title=North Idaho marks 10 years since Aryan Nations verdict |url=http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/sep/07/north-idaho-marks-10-years-aryan-nations-verdict/ |access-date=July 17, 2018 |work=Spokesman.com |publisher=The Spokesman-Review |date=September 7, 2010 |language=en}}</ref>

Local fire departments demolished some of the church's former buildings by burning them during training exercises.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dawson |first1=James |title=Slideshow: Rise And Fall Of Aryan Nations In North Idaho |url=http://boisestatepublicradio.org/post/slideshow-rise-and-fall-aryan-nations-north-idaho#stream/0 |access-date=July 17, 2018 |publisher=Boise State Public Radio |language=en}}</ref> [[Edgar Steele]], the attorney who had represented Butler, was later convicted of hiring a handyman to kill his own wife. In 2014, Steele died while serving a 50-year prison sentence.<ref>{{cite news |title=Former Idaho Aryan Nations Attorney Has Died |url=http://boisestatepublicradio.org/post/former-idaho-aryan-nations-attorney-has-died#stream/0 |access-date=July 17, 2018 |agency=Associated Press |publisher=Boise State Public Radio |language=en}}</ref>

===Decline and legacy===
{{Original research section|date=January 2024}}
The Aryan Nations were divided between three main factions. The largest group after Aryan Nations' bankruptcy was led by Charles John Juba, followed by [[August Kreis III]]<ref name="ADL-AryanN" /> until Kreis stepped down as leader and designated Drew Bostwick as his successor in 2012. In 2002, Juba's group was based on a {{convert|10|acre|ha|adj=on}} compound in the rural town of [[Ulysses, Pennsylvania|Ulysses]] in [[Potter County, Pennsylvania|Potter County]], north central [[Pennsylvania]]; it hosted the 2002 Aryan Nations World Congress.<ref name="2002wackoconference">{{cite web|year=2007 |url=http://www.aryan-nations.org/about.htm |title=Aryan Nations&nbsp;— About Us |publisher=Aryan Nations |access-date=January 18, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070116233939/http://www.aryan-nations.org/about.htm |archive-date=January 16, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Juba resigned in March 2005, announcing that Kreis was the group's new leader.

Kreis established a new headquarters in [[Lexington, South Carolina|Lexington]], [[South Carolina]], and he eventually moved it close to [[Union City, Tennessee]]. In 2005, Kreis received media attention because he attempted to form an Aryan Nations–[[al Qaeda]] alliance.<ref name="CNN2005">{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/03/29/schuster.column |title=An unholy alliance: Aryan Nation leader reaches out to al Qaeda |agency=[[CNN]] |date=March 29, 2005 |access-date=September 25, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071106040710/http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/03/29/schuster.column |archive-date=November 6, 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2005, the Holy Order of the [[Phineas Priesthood]], previously in association with the faction which was led by Kreis, seceded and formed Aryan Nations Revival,{{Citation needed|date=May 2015}} based in New York City. The Holy Order was created in opposition to Kreis's acceptance of adherents of [[Wicca]], [[Islam]], and [[Odinism]]. It considered such groups to be a deviation from the core Christian Identity belief of Aryan Nations. This Revival rapidly became the largest faction.

In the ''[[Congressional Record]]'', the leaders of Aryan Nations Revival were listed as [[Domestic terrorism in the United States|domestic terrorists]]. The government concluded that the Holy Order of the Brotherhood of the Phineas Priesthood was the enforcement/terrorist wing of Aryan Nations. Aryan Nations Revival hosted a weekly radio broadcast which it titled ''The Aryan Nations Broadcast''.{{Citation needed|date=August 2011}} Airing from 1979 to 2009, the radio program was authorized by Richard Butler. The program ended when host [[Hal Turner]] was arrested for threatening the lives of federal judges in [[Chicago]]. While incarcerated, Turner announced, through his attorney, that he was a federal informant, and that Aryan Nations was among those organizations which had been informed upon.

In 2009, Aryan Nations Revival, which was then based in [[Texas]], merged with Pastor Jerald O'Brien's Aryan Nations, which was based in [[Coeur d'Alene, Idaho]]. Both parties ardently adhered to Christian Identity.<ref name=AN_Intel_Files>{{cite web|title=Intelligence Files - Groups - Aryan Nations|publisher=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]]|access-date=June 16, 2017|year=2011|url=http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-files/groups/aryan-nations}}</ref><ref name=ADL_Jan09>{{cite web|title=A Weakened Aryan Nations Spins Off Many Factions |publisher=[[Anti-Defamation League]] |access-date=March 13, 2011 |date=January 16, 2009 |url=http://www.adl.org/learn/extremism_in_america_updates/groups/aryan_nations/Aryan_Nations_spinoffs.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110214171351/http://www.adl.org/learn/extremism_in_america_updates/groups/aryan_nations/Aryan_Nations_spinoffs.htm |archive-date=February 14, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Will the Real Aryan Nations Please Stand Up? |publisher=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]] |access-date=March 14, 2011 |year=2011 |url=http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2010/summer/will-the-real-aryan-nations-please-st |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110304130542/http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2010/summer/will-the-real-aryan-nations-please-st |archive-date=March 4, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aryannationsrevival.org/index.htm|title=Aryan Nations|date=June 2, 2010|access-date=June 2, 2010}}</ref> Need June 2010 archived page --><ref name=ANRweb>{{cite web|title=Aryan Nations Website |publisher=Aryannationsrevival.org |access-date=March 12, 2011 |url=http://www.aryannationsrevival.org/index.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725015047/http://www.aryannationsrevival.org/index.htm |archive-date=July 25, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>