Supremacist exits Idaho compound

The Associated Press/October 24, 2000

Aryan Nations leader Richard Butler has moved out of the Idaho compound he lost in a $6.3 million verdict against the white supremacist organization, a wealthy benefactor said Monday.

Vincent Bertollini said that he bought a new home for Butler in nearby Hayden, Idaho, last week and that the 82-year-old neo-Nazi has moved in. A woman at the Aryan Nations declined to answer questions.

Bertollini said Butler isn't finished spreading the message of white supremacy.

"Pastor Butler will continue preaching. Pastor Butler will continue printing and Pastor Butler will continue to ride the Internet," Bertollini said.

Butler must turn over the 20-acre property to satisfy part of a $6.3 million judgment against him. A mother and son won the negligence lawsuit last month after they were attacked by Aryan Nations security guards in 1998. Butler is seeking a new trial, alleging juror misconduct.

The lawsuit stripped Butler of the right to use the name Aryan Nations, but he has settled on an alternative -- the Aryan National Alliance, Bertollini said.

The new $107,500 house cannot be put in Butler's name because it would be subject to seizure by the Keenans.