Aiding Aryan Nations

In July 1998, the Hidden Tyranny booklet and the Seedline poster were handed out by Aryan Nations' supporters during the group's parade in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. In October of that year, Story and Bertollini funded a second major mailing to around 3,000 northern Idaho residents, which included The Hidden Tyranny and Richard Butler: My Side of the Story, a videotape featuring the leader of Aryan Nations.

The 45-minute videotape opens with the American flag superimposed on a series of photos, including shots of American eagles, the Lincoln Memorial and a Little League baseball game. In the background, Kate Smith sings "God Bless America." This patriotic montage fades into a guided tour of the Aryan Nations chapel, where the group's symbol is set in stained glass. Flags of Northern European nations, which Bertollini calls the "colonies" of the "Adamic Hebrew Israelite Christians," adorn the walls.

Most of the tape consists of an interview with Butler conducted by Bertollini, who explains that its purpose is to "dispel once and for all the myths and hysteria" associated with Aryan Nations in the public mind. He points out to Butler that more than 98 percent of Northern Idahoans are "Aryan" and that most of them "don't know who they are." Bertollini evidently hopes the video will convince those who receive it to embrace Identity.

Butler explains to Bertollini how, while he was serving overseas during the Second World War, an Indian servant's comments about the caste system planted the seeds of racism in his mind. Butler claims the war was the result of a Jewish plot to destroy whites and the Jews' "masterstroke" was "getting the Japs to attack Pearl Harbor." He bemoans what he sees as the results of the war -- desegregation and increased immigration -- and praises Hitler as a man who "publicly proclaimed his fight for the white race." Butler describes the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) as a manipulator of law enforcement and views the United States Army as "creating an empire for the anti-Christ, the Jews."

Butler and his staff leader, Michael Teague, appreciate the 11th Hour Remnant Messenger's financial assistance. "Before, we were just Nazis who were poor up on the hill," Teague told a reporter from the Los Angeles Times. "We've been operating on a shoestring for so long that it was nice to get to do something the other side gets to do all the time," Butler commented. "Don't forget, the Jews control the newspapers, they control the radio, they control the TV."

"They do an excellent job; they spread the word of God," Butler said of Story and Bertollini to a reporter from the San Jose Mercury News. "And they have made a scroll that is a beautiful piece of work that took a lot of money."