Aryan Nations

THE ARYAN NATIONS organization was founded in the 1970s by Richard Butler, a veteran of World War II. First involved with Wesley Swift's Christian Defense League, Butler then established the Aryan Nations white supremacy organization. Its headquarters was in Hayden Lake, Idaho. Butler's philosophy was strongly influenced by the Christian Identity movement, which views the white Aryan Nations as the true “Chosen People” of the Old Testament, not the Jews. According to Christian Identity, the Jewish People are in reality the “Children of Satan,” and nonwhite races like African Americans, Mexicans, and Asian peoples are the “mud people.” One of the marks of the true Chosen People—the Aryans—is that, being of fair skin, they can bring “blood in the face” if they are slapped and their cheek grows pink with the blood underneath.

The idea of building a white nation is much at the heart of the philosophy of Butler and his adherents. The largely white population of the American northwest was seen as desirable territory, with Idaho at its core. In 1996, Butler issued his “Declaration of Independence” for all Aryan peoples. In part it read: “all people are created equally subject to the laws of nature … such is now the necessity which impels [Aryans] to alter their systems of government.” A primary tenet of the Aryan Nations' beliefs is that the United States is now ruled by a largely hostile Zionist occupation government (ZOG) that perpetuates the alleged financial [Page 527]control of world Jewry, and whose purported design for world control was the subject of the Nineteenth Century Protocols of the Elders of Zion. The declaration goes on to say that the goal of ZOG is “the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states; moreover, throughout the entire world.” The heart of the document is a challenge that “we must secure the existence of our people and a future for white people.”

As part of its goal of reaching out to as many whites as possible, in 1979 Aryan Nations began an intensive prison outreach program throughout the United States. There are now few state or federal penal institutions that do not have an Aryan Nations chapter among their white inmate population. In 1983, Louis Beam, Butler's close associate, wrote: “the ever increasing prison ministry of the Church of Jesus Christ Christian [Christian Identity Movement] has begun to be felt throughout the state prison system as a major force.” Also, aided by Tom Metzger of the White Aryan Resistance movement (WAR), Aryan Nations has mounted a campaign to reach out to the white youth of America. An Aryan Nations Academy was established in 1982, but only some 15 members appear to have joined. Far more successful has been the effort to find common ground with the Skinhead movement, whose “oi” music has been played at youth concerts hosted by Aryan Nations.

The movement also served as a seed bed for the militia movement, which grew during the years of the Bill Clinton administration (1992–2000), a period when right-wing conservatives felt that Clinton was waging a war against the Christian right. In 1992, the focus of concern was Ruby Ridge in Idaho, where Christian survivalist Randy Weaver was besieged at his home by local and state law enforcement authorities and the Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). FBI sniper Lon Horiuchi shot to death Weaver's wife. Weaver's son and a U.S. marshal also died. Many Skinheads descended on the siege to show their solidarity with the Weavers.

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