White supremacists’ gathering peaceful

CASCADE LOCKS, Ore. – About 200 white supremacists gathered here without incident Saturday for a concert and speeches on an industrial plot along the Columbia River.

“Everybody is being good,” said Hood River County Sheriff Joe Wampler.

A handful of protesters with signs denouncing racism gathered near the site. The concert was closed to news media.

There had been fear of trouble, but Wampler credited an increased law enforcement presence in part for the calm.

The concert is on land where the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs want to build a casino.

Organizers applied to rent space for a benefit for displaced African farmers, said Chuck Daughtry, general manager of the Port of Cascade Locks.

The Port granted the request to Randall Krager, leader of the Volksfront, a Portland-based white supremacist group, before learning who he was.

“On Monday we discovered his group had ties to extremely racist and controversial organizations so we contacted the Hood River sheriff’s office and they came back with very disturbing information,” Daughtry said.

The Volksfront Web site advertises the event as AryanFest ‘05, a fund-raiser to benefit “displaced and persecuted South African whites.”

Port officials were advised by attorneys that the permit could not be denied because of constitutional guarantees of free speech and assembly.