Power of the County · Episode 3 of 7 · 20 min
How the Aryan Nations Hijacked Rural Anger at Hayden Lake
In 1977 a north Idaho Posse Comitatus leader said his group had 'pretty much disbanded,' its survivors flowing into a white-supremacist successor that became the Aryan Nations. The episode follows the turn from anti-government grievance to overt racialism through Richard Butler, his church at Hayden Lake and the tax-exemption fight. It keeps a careful distinction between the broader anti-government milieu and the racialist movement it produced.
Who's who
- Richard Butler+2 more episodesPosse leader who founded the Church of Jesus Christ-Christian at Hayden Lake
Where it happens
- Hayden Lake, Idaho+1 more episodeHome of Butler's church, seed of the Aryan Nations
- Kootenai County, IdahoDenied Butler's church tax exemptions in 1977
Timeline
- 1975Butler sues to block Idaho forestry and land-use laws
- July 1977Kootenai County denies the church's tax exemptions
- 1977Butler says the Posse has disbanded into the 'National Emancipation of the White Seed'
Still debated
The broader anti-government milieu and the racialist movement it produced were connected but not the same thing, and the record keeps that line distinct.