Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Aryan Nations leader mourned by few, but still left his mark

With his white hair and lined face, Aryan Nations founder Richard Butler looked like a kindly grandfather. But when he spoke, it was to issue vile diatribes against Jews and minorities, and to call for a whites-only enclave in the Northwest. Butler, who died in his sleep on Wednesday at the age of 86, surrounded himself with thugs and skinheads, and decorated his home with swastikas and pictures of Adolf Hitler. For three decades his neo-Nazi group became the dominant public image of northern Idaho. He is mourned by few. "I would say his death closes a particularly ugly chapter in the history of race and religious hatred in this country," said Daniel Alter, the Anti-Defamation League's national director for civil rights. Butler, who insisted on being addressed as "pastor," is easy to dismiss as a crackpot bigot with a tiny following. But he actually spawned a spectacular amount of criminal activity around the country, pushed Idaho to pass some of the nation's toughest hate crime laws, galvanized human rights groups in the region, and displayed a gift for tweaking his opponents. siehe auch: Richard Butler Death Closes 'Ugly Chapter', Neo-Nazi's death an end of era Racist failed in quest for Aryan homeland, Voice of hatred falls silent, but not its echo, Few mourning death of founder of Aryan Nations. Richard Butler, who idolized Adolf Hitler, founded and led the Aryan Nations neo-Nazi group for three decades, promoting white supremacy, has died; Aryan Nations founder dies without realizing his dream. End of an era? Butler's brand of white supremacy has lost favor among the radical right, but other forms survive