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Aryans Want July 18 Parade Butler Says Other Dates Were Selected As A Ruse

By Bill Morlin billm@spokesman.com

Aryan Nations members now want to stage their Coeur d’Alene parade July 18, and city officials say there’s no other competition for that day.

Aryan founder Richard Butler said Thursday that was the date his followers favored all along.

Other dates were requested as a ploy to see how enemies of the Aryan Nations - including the Jewish Defense League and Idaho Gov. Phil Batt - would respond, Butler said.

JDL leader Irv Rubin responded from Los Angeles, promising to come to Coeur d’Alene and oppose Butler’s march whenever it’s held.

“Maybe we’ll just have to stand across the street and hold our own little egg-toss,” Rubin said. “Even though the townsfolk up there regard these Aryans as lightweights or nuisances, I think somebody needs to stand up to them.”

Butler said his date-switching for the parade was deliberate, to publicly document his opponents’ “bloodlust” for the Aryan Nations.

“The JDL fell for the oldest counterintelligence ploy around,” Butler said in a letter addressed to “all racial kinfolk.”

The Aryan Nations originally sought a parade permit for April 18, then canceled that date, and applied for July 25.

Last weekend, Coeur d’Alene city officials said a downtown merchants association got its application in first for that day.

The city issues special events permits on a first-come basis, and can block issuing two permits for the same day.

The city is drafting a new ordinance that will more specifically regulate the “time, place and manner” of special events, including parades.

Police Capt. Ken Timmons said the Aryan Nations asked for July 25 in an application filed March 18. The merchants association requested the same date in an application filed on March 12, he said.

Then, last Saturday, Butler filed a new special events application, requesting to hold his “Christian Heritage Parade” on July 18, Timmons said.

The newest application, like the first, proposes a 15-block parade route, using Sherman Avenue. The 10 a.m. parade would begin and end in the city park. , DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: MARCH MADNESS The Aryan Nations originally sought a parade permit for April 18, to celebrate Adolf Hitler’s birthday. Then, after sparking much outrage, canceled and applied for July 25. A merchants association requested the same date. Now, the Aryans say the march was set for July 18 all along.

This sidebar appeared with the story: MARCH MADNESS The Aryan Nations originally sought a parade permit for April 18, to celebrate Adolf Hitler’s birthday. Then, after sparking much outrage, canceled and applied for July 25. A merchants association requested the same date. Now, the Aryans say the march was set for July 18 all along.