Anti-Gay Fliers Tied To Kkk Activist Residents Urged ‘To Stay Inside At All Times’ During Gay-Rights Celebration
Fliers urging people to use surgical masks if they go outdoors in Bozeman during a gay-pride rally bear the return address of a post office box rented by a Ku Klux Klan activist residing here.
John Abarr gained attention in 1994, after his Klan ties became known following his leadership of the Eastern Montana College Young Republicans in Billings, and his volunteer work in the re-election campaign of Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont.
Both Burns and the Montana Republican Party disavowed the efforts of Abarr, who acknowledged being a Klan recruiter and organizer.
Abarr did not return a telephone called placed Thursday by The Associated Press, and the Great Falls Tribune reported that its earlier telephone messages were not returned. The newspaper also reported there was no response to its note, left on Abarr’s apartment door, asking him to discuss whether he had a role in distributing the fliers.
They urge Bozeman residents “to stay inside at all times” during the three-day celebration by Pride!, a gay-rights organization, that begins today.
Gay-rights activists called the flier a “hate-filled recruiting tactic” that is not based on medical facts. Recipients of the fliers were urged to stay inside to avoid exposure to the AIDS virus, but state health officials say it is transmitted through an exchange of blood or semen, not through the air.
The flier was signed by the “Realm of Montana” and the “Ku Klux Klan Committee for Public Safety.”
Ken Toole of the private Montana Human Rights Network said his organization sent a fake letter of interest to the post office box given as a return address. The reply, signed “Montana Quest,” welcomed the writer into “the Pro-White Movement” and included a 12-page introductory article about the Ku Klux Klan, plus a form for membership in the national KKK in Harrison, Ark.
Postal officials said the mailbox was rented by Abarr and his wife, Brandi, on April 9. Abarr completed a form saying the box also would be used by Montana Quest and the Realm of Montana.
The name Montana Quest was used on Montana Klan fliers a few years ago in Billings, where Abarr was linked to Klan activities at the time. Abarr’s landlady, Nancy Boland, said the Abarrs moved into the Great Falls apartment last September as newlyweds who had married in Lewistown.
xxxx ON ALERT Bozeman police say they will be out in force today through Sunday to monitor the gay celebration, which includes a Main Street parade and a ceremony to celebrate the unions of same-sex couples.