History of Hate

Racist vandalism and literature continue to crop up in the Inland Northwest nearly a decade after the bankruptcy of the Aryan Nations in North Idaho and the death of its founder, Richard Butler. Beyond the hate, however, the region has its share of stories about groups and individuals who have stood up against racism, such as Tony Stewart and the founding of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations. Read more about the issues here.

In robocalls featuring ‘Friends’ theme song, California neo-Nazi Patrick Little says he’s coming to Sandpoint

A California man who has called the Holocaust “a lie” and claims Jews conspired to stop him from winning a U.S. Senate race says he plans to establish a “regional capital” in North Idaho. Sandpoint residents this week told The Spokesman-Review they had received a bizarre automated phone message from Patrick Little, a neo-Nazi who has called for a United States “free from Jews” and who recently mounted a failed campaign to unseat five-term Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

Controversy, conflict no strangers to sheriff candidate Scott Maclay

The man seeking to unseat Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich claims that he helped bring down the Aryan Nations, was a member of the sheriff’s dive team and was the leading real estate agent in Spokane Valley for two decades. Court records and long-time acquaintances tell a different story.

Spokane’s first black firefighter dealt with racist harassment for years on the force

Lawrence Goncalves stood inside the large bay doors of the Spokane Fire Department’s Station 1 and looked around. Somehow, even 30 years after his departure, things looked remarkably similar. “Back there was the kitchen,” he said last week. And the bunk beds, just behind that wall. Those doors, where the engines would race through before turning onto Riverside Avenue, as big then as now.

Shawn Vestal: South Hill homeowner files lawsuit to remove racist restrictions in property documents

Alex May, a 34-year-old software developer who grew up in Spokane, moved back to town last fall with his wife and family. They bought a home in the Comstock neighborhood. When they were signing the documents to close the sale, they came across the covenant attached to the home’s deed – and their signing agent pointed out that one of the covenants provisions was no longer legally valid: a whites-only provision.
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  • ‘Stand by your Klan’

    Doug Clark’s latest parody song is about Edgar Steele, a former attorney for the Aryan Nations, and his wife, who is accused of plotting to have killed. It’s set to the tune of “Stand by your Man” by Tammy Wynette.

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