Countdown To Armageddon: Neo-Nazi Richard Butler's Legacy of Hate In 1973, at 53, Richard Girnt Butler used the proceeds of his aerospace contracts with Lockheed Aircraft and several patents, including one for tubeless tires, to begin building a religious compound in Hayden Lake, in Idaho's rural Coeur D'Alene region. His initial followers, who moved their families onto the compound, were the adherents of Wesley Swift's Anglo-Saxon Christian Congregation, a white/christian sect born in California, eager to practice their racist version of Christianity in the isolation of the beautiful Idaho highlands. But their leader had bigger plans. Butler made Hayden Lake the nerve center and himself the de facto Secretary-General of the fractive international race hate network. At the annual Aryan Nations World Congress, Butler hosts the leadership of every important race-hate group in America and some from abroad. Regular guests have included the Klan in its many factions, the Skinhead Alliance, David Duke, Posse Comitatus, various swastika-wearing National Socialist organizations, and two dozen other racist and white supremacist groups. Day-to-day compound activities still include listening to sermons preached by Butler and his guests, and participating in neo-Nazi and Identity Christian religious rituals, including crossburning and picnic lunches. Butler built a school for children, and another for grownups teaching urban guerrilla strategy and survival and weapons training. A printing facility produces a prolific output of publications and flyers, which are sent across the country, including "The Way," which is direct-mailed to prison inmates and supports a nationwide prison gang, the Aryan Brotherhood. One of the earliest private Internet servers (the far right has been wired for 15 years) houses Aryan Nations Liberty Net, an on-line racist database, discussion area and bulletin board. Four years ago, when this interview was conducted, Richard Butler was listed by Klanwatch as 1 of the top 3 leaders in the US white supremacist movement, alongside fellow elders Robert Miles of the Michigan KKK Texas Knights' head Louis Beam. Unlike the other two men, Butler did not control a specific constituency. Rather, it was Butler who introduced the language of a revolutionary national race-hate movement to the regional gangs of racist vigilantes and Sunday klansmen. As his real power wanes, it becomes clear that Butler has had a formative effect on another generation of extremist racists who are eager to put his preaching into practice. * * * As the last dregs of the American Dream evaporate in America's badlands, an ever-growing number of downwardly mobile white men, women and teenagers are found in a volatile bad mood. Now, after a year in which documented Skinhead activity increased radically around the globe and the American mainstream moved squarely to the right, carrying a large chunk of plain folks into an anti-government, anti-urban, anti-"P.C." frenzy, it seems like an important time to revisit the noxious rhetoric of Aryan Nations. Now, a certain level of conspiracy theory, distrust of the government and paranoia are a very American thing; the poor man's version of book-learned critical theory. Cynicism about the US political system can be heard all over the ideological map, and we don't launch sedition charges against every freak with a critique of Washington or City Hall. One of the best things you can say about America is that the US flag was always meant to wave over a quotient of anti-government free-thinkers. The big difference about Richard Butler is that he is a racist and wants to kill people. * * * In 1978, Butler crony and National Alliance leader William Pierce published the first draft of The Turner Diaries, a near-futuristic memoir of the Great Revolution. In the Diaries, Earl Turner, a rank-and-file member of the Organization, recounts the imaginary history of a full-scale white race takeover, masterminded by a paramilitary group called The Order. The Diaries move from a neighborhood guerrilla uprising against the "Equality Police" through a nightmarish nationwide ethnic cleansing to a fantasy climax of global genocide. By 1980, thousands of copies of the book were printed and had made their ways through the race hate network. If Richard Butler's Holy Bible was the central text of his racist world view, The Turner Diaries were a new testament for a new generation of terrorist activists. In 1984, a real terrorist group calling themselves The Order decided to put the rhetoric of Butler and Pierce's junta of racist-philosophers into practice. Although mentored by Butler through a liaison named Tom Bentley, the members of The Order were of a different stamp. In the course of 14 months, The Order robbed banks and armored cars six states, netting over $4M, and machine-gunned Denver talk-show host Alan Berg to death. The groups members were ultimately captured in a bloody firefight with the FBI which yielded them a martyr, organizer Robert Matthews. In 1986, "The Order 2" was back with a vengeance, staging bombings in Coeur D'Alene and planning for more bombs in gay discos in Portland and a giant dumping of cyanide in LA's reservoirs. In its various incarnations, The Order 2 was suspected of planning and executing sniper and bomb attacks resulting in over a dozen fatalities, including the murders of judges, police officers, and random racially-specified targets. * * * Butler's philosophy is both insanely complicated and simple enough for even an uneducated, half-literate Skinhead to understand--and feel clever for understanding. It begins with the premise that the intentions of America's founding fathers--the creation of a white-run "heavenly reich"--have been successfully undermined by a Jewish-planned conspiracy he has dubbed "ZOG"--the Zionist Occupational Government. ZOG's alleged objectives sound like liberalism taken to fascist extremes: the destruction of the "White Race" through gene-pool mixing, open borders, abortion, and central government. His solution, thinly veiled in a politician's evasive language, it to "seek a kingdom of our own," beginning with a grassroots violent overthrow of the government. The move from theory to practice continues. The April 19 Oklahoma City bombing was a page torn out of The Turner Diaries, in which a racist "Patriot" detonates a truck bomb weighing "a little under 5000 pounds," made of fuel oil and ammonium nitrate, at 9:15 AM, in a building housing federal law enforcement. The Oklahoma City truck bomb weighed 4400 pounds, went off at 9:05 AM in a building which also housed Federal law enforcement and, like the Diaries bomb, was positioned to blow off the front of the building, causing upper floors to collapse. It came as little surprise to learn that Oklahoma bombing suspect Timothy McVeigh was an avid reader--and salesman--of the Turner Diaries, which he retailed at gun conventions for 50% of the cover price. Butler and his colleagues have successfully lit the fuse on a cluster bomb of terrorist activity which is unlikely to de-escalate anytime soon. On April 29th, ten days after the attack which his book inspired, William Pierce was broadcasting his weekly radio program from his mountain compound in West Virginia. "We'll see some real terrorism--planned, organized terrorism--before too long," he said. "I suspect that a growing number of exasperated, fed-up Americans will begin engaging in terrorism on a scale the world has never seen before." So far, the racist right has been fulfilling their own prophecies with devastating consistency. And as their chief prophet, every drop of blood that is shed is on the hands of Richard Butler. Can you just tell us a little bit about where you grew up, went to school, and so forth? I was born and raised in Denver, Colorado, and moved to California with my folks during the depression. I started working with the aircraft factory just about the time I was graduating from high school. I went to college for a couple of years at Los Angeles City College while I was trying to work at the aircraft factory at night. So, I'm one of those poor boys. When did your beliefs begin to develop? I was always supportive of my race. My folks were supportive of their race, of course, and they were the ones who told me, you know, that we were born of noble seed. You believe that only whites should be citizens of the United States? Well that's what the Constitution says, isn't it? Maybe originally, but... No originally. That was it. And when we lost the Constitution of 1868, anything in the world can come in here. You can bring in 100 million Chinese, 50 million Cambodians, 25 million Vietnamese, 25 to a hundred million Negroes, you can flood the place from sea to sea. Wasn't that kind of the point of America? It's a country almost entirely of immigrants. Ha-ha. We all were white Aryans that came to this country. As a matter of fact, you have to look at the Constitution from the standpoint...just a minute, I'll get a book here and I'll read it to you, from the first Supreme Court Justice, you know John Jay? This will give you an idea of who we were, what countries we came from, and why. This was a nation of white people, we call 'em Aryans, but, here, I'll show it to you...give you an exact quote: "Providence has been pleased to give this one connected country to one united people, descended from the same ancestors, speaking the same language, professing the same religion, attached to the same principles of government, very similar in their manners and customs. It appears as it was the design of Providence that an inheritance so proper and convenient for a band of brethren united to each other by the strongest ties should never be split into a number of unsocial, jealous, and alien sovereignties. " 1790, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Jay. What in your view is wrong with the United States now? What would you change? What would I change? I would change the Federal Reserve system. I'd eliminate it, right off the bat. I'd eliminate the IRS and I would throw out all race traitors. I would stop immigration and start repatriation. What about everybody in the country right now who is not what you would consider to be an Aryan? They could be repatriated, couldn't they? Or if they stayed here, they would be subjects, not citizens. A citizen can only be one of the race for whom the country was formed. How does the Bible fit into your world view? Well my world view is that the Bible is the lifelaw of the race. It was given to a race of people. Genesis 5:1 says that its the book of the white race, the book of the race of Adam. So if we are the Adamic race, this is the book of our race. How do you see black people? The black people are black. Period. They're gonna think like blacks, they're gonna act like blacks, they're gonna do as blacks do. And how is that? Well, that's their culture. If they see a white woman and they want to rape her, they're going to rape her. Because we allow it. If they see a white man and they want to beat him to death, why, they're going to do it. Because they love to rape. They love to eat each other. Cannibalism. So they have a different culture. They are different people. They have a different level of intelligence. You can't equate apples and oranges. They just don't mix. Lets talk about your characterization of the Jews. It's very different from your sense of the black race...or is it? The Jews are not a race, the Jews themselves say that. You go to any rabbi and he'll declare, we are not a race. As a matter of fact I got a book here, The Diseases of the Jewish People, which is put out by Johns Hopkins University Press. And they claim that they're not a race, they're a mongrel people. And it was edited by Richard M. Goodman, MD. And you get these genetic disorders, and this is why they have certain diseases, such as Tay-sacks and so forth. This a great big book, see. It's over three hundred pages. And, uh, all medical studies in there. So the Jews, if they marry out of their Jewish ancestry, by the third generation they're pretty likely not to have children with Tay-sacks. If they keep marrying Jews, it gets to the confusion of the genes, is what causes all these deformities and whatnot in the Jewish people. Who do you respect as a role model in the United States today? Today? Um, I don't know...I think there's quite a few of them who were in there, and there's a bunch of men today...I think Bob Miles is a great leader...I think we have quite a few of the Identity people who preach the truth of the word...of scripture. I don't have any, uh, particular ones. What about historically? What do you think of Adolph Hitler? He was a great man. He was the only person in the last century who ever fought for the life of the white race. What is your relationship to The Order? Well. Some of the people who were members, here, of Aryan Nations and the Church, were also members of The Order. Of course there was a dozen other organizations who contributed members to The Order. What do you think of The Order? The Order was the tea party of '84. We had Boston Tea Parties back then. But of course the people weren't ready for a revolution. You were in support of them. I'm supportive of the ideals for which they fought. They were tried in Seattle, and the judge said that these men were being tried for attempting to establish a country where white children would have a future. That was the charge. They did break the law, United States law. What law? Yeah, they broke the law...for instance, I guess you would say, robbing the Federal Reserve. But they wasn't robbing the peoples money, they were robbing the Jews money. Members of The Order have also been accused of murder. Murder? Yes. Oh, you mean of the, uh...the talk-show host. Well, I don't know whether they did or they didn't. I think they killed him, I don't think they murdered him. They was never charged, you know, they never ever were tried for murder. What do you mean, you think they killed him but you don't think they murdered him? No, they weren't tried for murder! Is this a philosophical question... No, wait a minute! No, it isn't a philosophical! I'm talking about straight facts. They were never tried. The State of Colorado said We do not have enough evidence to try these men for murder. The members of the Order who killed Alan Berg broke the First Commandment, right? Thou shalt not kill? No, the commandment says, Thou shalt not do murder. What's the difference? If we said that the commandment said that we should not kill, none of us would ever eat a hamburger, none of us would ever eat a steak, none of us would ever eat a fish. Killing is that. That's why if you look up in your original Hebrew, it says Thou shalt not do murder. So you would compare the assassination of Berg to butchery or slaughter? Yeah, right. Its butchering slaughter, that's all it was, cause he wasn't a member of the race. Jews are comparable to animals in your hierarchy? That's what the Jews say. Is that what you say? Uh-huh. Sure. The country is full of people who are racists without a guiding philosophy like yours. Are they part of your movement? Think about losing your sovereignty. When you lose the right, in your own country, founded by the blood of your own ancestors, to send your children to school with those of their own kind, of their own class, you have lost everything. In other words, you have become a subject to a power which has conquered you. And what's the appropriate response to this? Well, that's exactly what happened. When we used troops with bayonets, at Little Rock and Oxford, Mississippi, to stick bayonets in the backs of the people and force them--in other words, our own army, the army that they are paying for was called out--to force them to integrate with blacks. What's the response? To seek a kingdom of our own. Matthew 6:33. If we seek and establish by the right of self determination, that we claim the right of self determination. The United Nations or the Jew-run world order says that only blacks, only Asians, only Mexicans, only mongrels have the right of self determination. How come? Why? By what logic? Is it going to happen spontaneously, or are things building up? Its going to be building up. I think as we approach this coming year you're going to start seeing a recession. You're going to see a lot more whitemen put out of work. You're going to see several million non-whites being brought in. Already we can see the farms that've been repossessed by the government, you know on the Farm Loan Program, and theory only charging our farmers 18 percent interest. You know what kind of interest Jews in the Soviet Union pay for the loans were giving to the communists? 3 percent. 1-and-a-half, 2, 3 percent. But we charge American white farmers 18 percent. They been repossessing them and giving them to Asiatic. So the poor white American is going to get increasingly angry... Amen. You sure are right. He's going to be very angry. He's going to need leadership to channel that anger. Are you going to be part of it? Well, I'm probably not. But we do have leadership that's going to kick in. Who will that be? Well, were looking forward to it. What plans do you have for your legacy? Well, I don't know. Well have to wait and see how that comes out. Somebody'll be writing the history of it. Right now Aryan Nations seems to be on the fringe of American politics. How are you going to move towards the mainstream? Or is it going to come to you? No, were not going to change anything. But the political arena is going to resolve itself down to this point. Either you're for the life of the white race or you're for the death of the white race. This is where its coming down to. Those who are for the death of the white race are going to form on the left-hand side of the line, and those who are for the life of the white race are going to form on the other side. That's going to be the supreme issue. Your role is as a behind-the-scenes operator. What about activists? Well, the activists are going to be those who are for the life of the race, and activists on the other side are going to be for the death. So one side is going to try to kill off the white race, and the white race is going to try to defend itself. Is violence appropriate at this stage? Well, when you try to kill off the white race, do you suppose that's violence? Isn't abortion violent, when you take em out in chunks? I'd say that's pretty violent. So its going to come down. When the white race finds out that he has been shorn of his sovereignty, shorn of his racial destiny, as far the government of the United States is concerned, he's going to get awful angry. And I think then Isaiah 13th, 14th chapter is going to come into play where the black and the Jew is going to seek his own country, he's gonna be running, for his own people. On a personal note, are you happy with your life? Do you feel like you've accomplished your objectives thus far? Thus far, yes. I have a real fine life up here. Well, we're churchgoers, and life is very tranquil, peaceful, we have a lot of work, and we have a lot of good people. What is your relation to the people of Hayden Lake, who are not in the Church? Well, we have very good relations. Are there blacks and Jews in Hayden Lake? Nope. In your region of Idaho? Well, there's a few in Coeur D'Alene, but most of those have moved out. In response to pressure from you? Well, probably. We've maybe tripled in size in the past few years. More than tripled; by white people. So its building up and there's nothing that you or I or anyone else can do to stop it. The best thing we can either do is say were going to be for the life of the white race or were going to be for the death. That's the whole thing. And today the demographics show that the white race is being exterminated in every point on the face of this earth. What are your strategies for working against it? Well, I think that our people are waking up. More and more. We can't do anything now, because we have no power. But there is going to come a day when our people are hungry, when they feel the lash of the race traitors whip on their back, they're going to wake up and say this is not the way to go. Like the prodigal son, you know, I'm down here eating with pigs and dogs, maybe I would be better to return to the lifelaw of my fathers. When do you foresee this revolution taking place? Oh, by the year 2002. Will it be violent? Well, how did the United States revolution come about? I would rather that it would come about like Germany did, by vote of the people, when they put in the Third Reich, but here in the United States, all you have to do is read what happened in 1775-76-77, up through the 90s. Was it violent? Yes. It sure was, OK. Well, there's going to be violence. And Jesus Christ says he didn't come to bring peace, but he come to bring a sword. And who will that violence be directed against? It's going to to be directed against everybody who's out seeking to destroy the white race. What is your role, and the role of Aryan Nations going to be until then? Our role will be, to bring the truth to the people; that's what were trying to do right now. For if you know the truth, the truth shall make you free. How do you figure the disunity in racist movements today? I understand there's a rift between you and The Order and the KKK. We have no clash between any of em. I don't have any animosity towards anybody who fights for the life of my people. We are unifying. How many people does that represent? Oh, I would say probably close to 200,000; 300,000, right in there. We don't keep the numbers. You know. As we approach the target year 2002, are you optimistic? Oh yes, I think so. I think it's going to come out in the way our god, Jahweh, has told us. Prophesied and give us the promise of. Some people within that movement are already arming and preparing militarily... Oh, I think they're right, I think they're right. Because you're heading into a famine, and you're going to have a great famine in this land in the next couple years. We've had a great famine for the word of truth, the word of God, but you're going to have a physical famine. You're going to be feeding all of Asia, all of Africa and there isn't going to be very much left for you who produce the food. You're coming under the one world dictatorship, that great peace and tranquillity that everyone is always talking about. Is it going to be peaceful? Well you know it was always peaceful in the Soviet salt mines in Siberia. You just had the snowflakes to contend with, and 40 below, and a bowl of soup a day to worry about. All right, but, practically speaking, do you obey United States laws or not? I obey all of the laws, yes. Do you hate blacks? I don't hate them. I just recognize them for what they are. I don't hate rattlesnakes. But I don't want rattlesnakes in my bedroom, and I don't want rattlesnakes around my children or my grandchildren. They have their place. Rattlesnakes live where rattlesnakes are supposed to live. But they're not supposed to live in my bedroom or your bedroom or anybody else's. I must say, it sounds a lot like hatred to me. If its not, I don't know what is. Well, it isn't, its love for my own race. You don't apparently love your race. You love the non-whites. So, can you have love without hate? No, you can't. Oh, I see. So love and hate are kind of necessary opposites? Why, certainly. You can't have hate without love. You cant have love without hate. Jesus Christ said he had hate. As a matter of fact he demonstrated his hatred of the moneychangers, didn't he? Well, who do you hate? The only thing I hate is white proselytes. White race-traitors. I hate them with a perfect hatred, just as David said in the psalms. He hates the white race traitor with a perfect hatred. The white race-traitor: the one who seeks to destroy his race. Destroy his culture. Destroy his heritage. Destroy everybody around him who is of his own kind. That's the one that I hate. Any closing statement? No, I just say that either you're for or you're against the life of the white race. That's my closing statement. That's it? You bet.