School District Won’t Allow Former Supremacist To Speak

A former recruiter for the Aryan Nations won’t be allowed to speak to students in the Three Rivers School District about resisting the white supremacist movement.

Floyd Cochran left the Church of Jesus Christ Christian-Aryan Nations and changed his ways. These days, he talks to schoolchildren and community groups, issuing an anti-Aryan Nations message.

The Illinois Valley Human Rights Alliance invited Cochran to speak after fliers promoting the racist group were found posted in Cave Junction. Slogans on the fliers included: “White power! Make Oregon a white state!”

Alliance board member Dave Toler said he is outraged that the school district won’t allow Cochran to speak.

“We know of two individuals in the area who are recruiting,” Toler said. “And we have the only school district in Oregon that won’t allow Floyd Cochran in the schools.”

Toler said the community has a profound interest in promoting Cochran’s message. “If we ignore it, that plays right into the hands of these groups like the white Aryan Nations,” he said.

School board member Bill Meyer said district policy requires that both sides be allowed to air their views on a controversial topic.

“We would literally be held accountable, if we let him speak, to let the Aryan Nations come in …,” Meyer said.