Aryan Nations Distributes Fliers During Play

Sat., Jan. 22, 2000

Police responding to a report that white supremacists were outside a theater during an all-black performance found fliers distributed by the Aryan Nations.

Witnesses said eight to 10 people apparently tied to the Aryan Nations were at the Alberta Bair Theater on Thursday night, the Billings Gazette reported, but on arriving, police found no members of the group. The theater program was “A Brief History of White Music,” a revue that spans 40 years of American music.

Aryan Nations fliers placed on cars carried the organization’s logo and a drawing of three white children. The messages “Help Protect America’s Most Valuable Resource” and “Join the Aryan Nations” were printed on the fliers, along with the organization’s telephone number and address in Hayden Lake, Idaho.

After the theater performance, five police officers remained outside the building while performers walked to their bus.

“The hardest thing was to look the cast in the eye and tell them what happened,” theater manager Patricia Williams said. The performers were scared and anxious to leave Billings, she said.

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