Aryan Nations founder Richard Butler dies at 86

Richard G. Butler, the notorious white supremacist who founded the Aryan Nations and was once dubbed the "elder statesman of American hate," has died at the age of 86, authorities said Wednesday. (...) Several phone calls to Butler's Hayden home ended when someone picked up the telephone and then hung up without speaking. The Aryan Nations lost its church and 20-acre compound in northern Idaho in 2000 after a $6.3 million civil judgment led to a bankruptcy filing. Butler moved into a modest tract house bought by a supporter, and made few public appearances in recent years because of failing health. But he continued to frustrate his opponents. Last year, he ran for mayor of Hayden, collecting just 50 out of 2,122 votes cast in November. In July, the virulent anti-Semite rode in the back of a pickup truck that was dragging the flag of Israel during a parade by about 40 of his followers through downtown Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, 30 miles east of Spokane. Butler, a longtime admirer of Adolf Hitler and white supremacist religious teaching, had moved to Idaho in the early 1970s, claiming later that he was impressed by its high percentage of white residents. To the dismay of many locals, the region became known as a place hospitable to white supremacist groups. siehe auch: Richard Butler founded the Aryan Nations group, RICHARD G. BUTLERFounded Aryan Nations, Richard G. Butler, founder of white supremacist group dies, Richard Butler, who led Aryan Nations, dies in Idaho at 86, White Supremacist Richard Butler Dies, Richard G. Butler, 86, Founder of the Aryan Nations, Dies, Richard Butler