Aryan Nations march & protest

[Bob Hoffmann <escape@alt-escape.com>]

I've received the following press release via email.  I personally don't 
have any more details, and I won't be going.  It is hunting season, after all.

News Release
October 25, 2000
To: News Editor
From: United Front Against Fascism
5018 Rainier Avenue South
Seattle, WA 98118
(206)722-2453 phone; 723-7691 fax
Contact: Luma Nichol
Phone: (206)722-2453
E-mail: FSPseattle@mindspring.com
For Release: Immediately

United Front Against Fascism Will Protest
Aryan Nations Parade in Idaho
The United Front Against Fascism will protest the Saturday, October 28
11:00am march by Richard Butler and his Aryan Nations followers in Coeur d'
Alene, Idaho, according to Luma Nichol, a founder of the Seattle-based UFAF.
"It was a real victory for civil rights forces that Victoria Keenan and her
son won their civil suit against Butler," Nichol said. "But the Aryan
Nations is not dead." UFAF is urging civil rights supporters to
counter-demonstrate on October 28, she said, "to show Butler that he is also
defeated in the court of public opinion."

"Fascism can not be vanquished in the courts alone," Nichol asserted.
"Today in Germany, where Nazi literature and insignia are illegal, the Nazi
movement is flourishing." She pointed out that it took only a few weeks
after the close of the trial for Butler to acquire a new home, a new
organizational name (Aryan National Alliance), and the financial backing of
anti-Semitic millionaire Vincent Bertollini, who lives in Sandpoint, Idaho.
The October 28 parade will be Butler's third annual march through the heart
of Coeur d'Alene, a popular resort town. Despite efforts by city officials
to discourage counter-protesters, hundreds turned out in both 1998 and 1999.
Ann Rogers, a Native American feminist who attended both marches, supports
counter rallies against white supremacists. "The people of this region have
shown repeatedly that the most powerful response to would-be-Nazis is for a
community to take a visible, united stand for civil rights. People's courage
in the streets in the last decade laid the basis for the success of the
legal challenge to Butler's operation."

According to news reports, the Northwest Coalition for Human Dignity will
refrain from joining in the counter-protest, as it has in the past, and
instead will hold a conference on the day of the parade in Boise, several
hours away. Similarly, the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations,
reflecting concern about the state's tarnished international image, has
announced plans to debut a new slogan -- "Idaho, the human rights state" --
and advises residents to ignore Butler's march.
Chicano unionist and King County Labor Council delegate Gil Veyna, who
attended the 1999 Coeur d'Alene counter-march, is among those who believe
that this is an ineffective approach. "Turning your back on the fascists
only encourages them," he said.
The United Front Against Fascism is well known for mobilizing against the
Ku Klux Klan, the Populist Party, White Aryan Resistance and the Aryan
Nations during the past 12 years. Among its achievements is bringing an end
to annual gatherings of racist skinheads on Whidbey Island, near Seattle,
through persistent counter-organizing that brought together unionists,
feminists, people of color, immigrants, queer and youth activists, artists,
and musicians. UFAF can be reached by phone at (206)722-2453 or by e-mail at
FSPseattle@mindspring.com.
# # # # #



Bob Hoffmann
846 Mabelle St.
Moscow, ID  83843  USA
Phone: (208) 883-0642
Fax: (877) 495-2279