ARYAN NATIONS DEFLATES ‘SOVEREIGNS’ IN MONTANA

middle fingers extended than the organized
racism once practiced by Butler.
The last self-proclaimed leader of the
Aryan Nations, Morris L. Gulett, who
briefly was aligned with the Sadistic
Souls and its leader, Dennis McGiffen,
suddenly closed up shop in November
at his “headquarters” in Converse, La.
That likely was a surprise to the world
of white supremacists. Only six months
earlier, Gulett was boldly and publicly
praising accused mass murderer
Dylann Storm Roof, whose racist mindset
apparently led to the June massacre
of nine people at Emanuel AME Church
in Charleston, S.C.
Now, suddenly — without capitulating,
apologizing or retreating from his
racist views — Gulett bluntly says he is
retiring from the front lines. The Aryan
Nations “no longer exists with the veracity
that it once had [and] therefore it
deserves to be respectfully laid to rest,”
Gulett announced.
Within three days of that, Gulett took
down the Aryan Nations website where
he regularly posted his racist sermons,
thick with invocations of Butler’s name
and legacy and photos of the former
Aryan compound in Hayden Lake, Idaho.
Gulett didn’t offer a detailed explanation.
It may be that the man who spent
time in prison for an assortment of
crimes simply couldn’t attract and keep
many followers or enough financial support.
He certainly didn’t admit failure.
Meanwhile, August Byron Kreis III,
the other man who spent time over
the last decade claiming to be Butler’s
rightful successor as the head of Aryan
Nations, was convicted last year of child
rape. The 61-year-old racist was sentenced
in November to 50 years in prison,
where he will almost certainly die.
Other would-be Aryan Nations leaders
— Paul Mullet, Gerald O’Brien, Drew
Bostwick and Charles Juba — seem to
have vanished from the racist forefront,
and Butler understudies Neuman Britton
and Ray Redfeairn have died.
After a version of this piece was first
published on SPLC’s Hatewatch news
blog in December, long-time movement
racist Billy Roper posted a comment
claiming that Mullet had just formed
a new Christian Identity church, The
Nation of True Israel, in Bainbridge, Ohio.
“Aryan Nations is not embodied in a
single person [but] is an idea, a belief system,
and an article of faith,” wrote Roper,
calling himself the “minister of publications”
for the new white supremacist
church.
“Whether or not the ‘Church of Jesus
Christ Christian’ [an alternative name
for Aryan Nations that emphasizes its
Christian Identity beliefs] continues as
an organization is immaterial,” Roper
said, claiming that “many loyal and courageous
former Aryan Nations members
and supporters” will now flock to Mullet.
That certainly remains to be seen.
Mullet, who has served prison time
in Minnesota and Ohio for theft and
Aryan Nations:
A Timeline
April 1973: Richard Butler moves to
Hayden Lake, Idaho.
April 1980: Butler attends the first
Aryan Nations (AN) Congress in
Kansas, calling for unity of white
supremacists. Future congresses will
be held at the Idaho AN compound.
April 1984: Members of the white
supremacist terrorist group The Order,
who support AN, rob an armored car.
December 1984: After shootouts
in Idaho and Oregon, four Order
members are arrested on Whidbey
Island, Wash.
April 1985: A federal grand jury
questions Butler and indicts 23
members of The Order.
September 1986: A series of bombing
incidents aimed at human rights
activists are tied to AN security
chief David Dorr.
January 1991: AN supporter Randy
Weaver is arrested on weapons
violations. The incident triggers
the 1992 Ruby Ridge, Idaho, siege.
Weaver’s son and wife and a deputy
U.S. marshal are killed.
July 1998: Victoria and Jason
Keenan are shot at during a car
chase from the AN compound.
January 1999: AN and Butler are
named defendants in a civil suit filed
by the Southern Poverty Law Center
on behalf of the Keenans, who ultimately
are awarded $6.3 million.
October 2000: Butler files for bankruptcy
and the AN is later auctioned
off, its buildings destroyed.
April 2002: August Byron Kreis III,
who had previous ties with the Klan,
sets up an AN in Pennsylvania and
claims he, Ray Redfeairn and Morris
Gulett are the triumvirate now
heading the Aryan Nations. Butler
denounces all three.
September 2004: Butler dies.
December 2015: After years of
squabbling and infighting by various
AN successors, no more versions of
the group are left.
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