Ex-leader of Aryan Nations says Ohio won't be new hub

A watchdog agency had indicated otherwise.

Columbus Dispatch/July 11, 2001
By Frank Hinchey

The former state leader of the Aryan Nations said his successor has no plans to establish Ohio as the national headquarters of the white supremacist group, disputing a watchdog agency that has indicated otherwise. "Definitely not,'' Harold Ray Redfeairn of Dayton said yesterday. The new leader, Danny William Kincaid, was arrested last week in Delaware County on weapons charges.

"Dan would not want to be the national leader simply because his interest is in the religious not political realm (of the Aryan Nations).'' Mark Pitcavage, director of fact- finding for the Anti-Defamation League, a hate- group watchdog in New York, disagrees. "I don't believe assertions like that,'' he said. "The Aryan Nations has never made a particular effort to distinguish between the political and religious (factions).

"They are a Christian-identity, neo-Nazi group. They are two sides of the same coin.'' In 1998, the league warned that the Aryan Nations in Ohio "seemed to be positioning itself as a possible new headquarters.''

According to the watchdog organization, Kincaid and his wife, Kathleen, sent a mailing to members in April 2000 in which they stated, "We are excited about cell group growth . . . Let's fight the good fight and spread the gospel to our blinded brothers and sisters.''

After Kincaid, 55, was arrested last week, the FBI searched the house where he lived with his wife and aunt and adjacent wooded property at 514 Africa Rd. for weapons, destructive devices and information related to acts of violence. The FBI said it has been investigating Kincaid for 13 months.

He was indicted July 3 on 14 counts of being a felon in the possession of weapons and an unregistered explosive device, a pipe bomb. He also is accused of selling firearms, including assault rifles. Kincaid was convicted in 1965 of breaking and entering in Marion County, and in 1972, he was convicted of drug charges in Florida. Convicted felons are not allowed to possess firearms.

Marion County court records do not indicate that Kincaid ever applied to the court to be allowed to legally possess firearms, a court spokeswoman said. He has been released and placed under federal house arrest. Asked why Kincaid would be investigated for illegally possessing and selling firearms, Redfeairn said, "He would not have had weapons if he thought he was acting in an illegal manner.''

Redfeairn said his last official act as leader of the Ohio Aryan Nations was to ordain Kincaid as a pastor of the group's Church of Jesus Christ Christian about two years ago. While he acknowledged that Kincaid is the Ohio chapter leader, Redfeairn said he has been recruiting church members, not Aryan Nations members bent on mayhem.

In June 2000, Kincaid wrote Aryan Nations sympathizers, "Since I am the state leader for Ohio . . . this will give a working knowledge of our members in Ohio, and put the chapter of Ohio Aryan Nations of Jesus Christ Christian back where it belongs by using the chain of command as it was intended from the beginning.''

According to court records, Kincaid is known as "Pastor Dan.'' According to the Anti-Defamation League, Mrs. Kincaid is known as "Sister Kathy.'' Authorities found a pulpit in Kincaid's basement.