New York, NY, July 20, 1998....Richard Butler, the 80-year-old head of Aryan Nations, a virulently racist, anti-Semitic organization, has named Neuman Britton as his successor to the organization, after leading his followers in the hate group’s annual march through the streets of Coeur D’Alene, Idaho this past weekend.

The appointment of Britton ends years of speculation that the ailing Butler would name Louis Beam, a sometime Klansman, neo-Nazi, and leading advocate of anti-government action, to succeed him. Though a charismatic speaker, Beam has fallen out of favor recently with movement radicals for toning down his anti-Semitism. Britton, on the other hand, continues to preach hatred of Jews

Neuman Britton, 72, a long-time member of Aryan Nations, is the national chaplain of Butler’s Church of Jesus Christ Christian. Affiliated with the "Identity" movement, Britton preaches the pseudo-theological philosophy that Anglo-Saxons, not Jews, are the Biblical "chosen people," that nonwhites are "mud People" on the level of animals, and that Jews are "children of Satan." Despite his age, Britton, known for his fiery delivery, reportedly inspires his followers with his violent, extremist rhetoric.

Based in Oceanside, California, Britton has regularly attended Aryan Nations events in Idaho, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, and California, and has spoken at other white supremacist gatherings across the country. He is married to Joan Kahl, the former wife of Gordon Kahl, a member of the Posse Comitatus killed in a shootout with law enforcement officials in Arkansas in 1983. Joan Kahl was a speaker, along with Britton at the Aryan Nations Congress in 1996.

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