Town Unites Against White Supremacist Group
March 9, 2010 - 10:14 AM | by: Dan Springer
--SPLCblog--FOXnews--

The Aryan Nations is looking for a new headquarters. But when the group targeted John Day, a small city in eastern Oregon, the residents banded together in opposition. John Day is a town of 1,900 in a county with only around 8,000 people. It's over 95 percent white, conservative and rural.

Paul Mullet, the leader of Aryan Nations 88, says he believes John Day's values fit with his group of Neo-Nazis. He's finding out he was wrong. The outcry was immediate following an article in the local newspaper, the Blue Mountain Eagle. The paper sponsored two informational meetings to inform local residents about the Aryan Nations beliefs and activities.

The town's response was immediate. The Grant County Human Rights Coalition was quickly formed and began passing out "No Hate" signs and green ribbons as a way to show solidarity. Restaurant owners said they would refuse to serve the Aryans and people promised they would not sell their land to the group.

The Aryan Nations has been based in northern Idaho since its founder, Richard Butler, moved there from California in 1974. The group has since been fractured and has been mostly underground since Butler's death in 2004. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which tracks hate groups, says there are at most 100 Aryan Nations members currently in the U.S. split between about a dozen groups.

Aryan Nations 88 is an offshoot of the original Aryan Nations and may have five members including its self-proclaimed leader, Paul Mullet.

Joe Roy of the SPLC says Mullet first came to his attention in 2000 when Mullet was passing out white supremacist literature in Minnesota. He moved to Idaho after Richard Butler's death. And now he says the group needs a new compound where they can build a school and create an all-white society.

But the people of John Day are determined to do everything within the law to keep that from happening. The town is already struggling. Two of the timber mills recently shut down leaving just one open. There used to be ten in operation. Unemployment is at 14 percent. The mayor says if the Aryans moved in that would be the final nail in the coffin for his city.