July 1, 1998-2000: Aryan Nations Compound Lost in Civil Suit

Three Aryan Nations security guards (see Early 1970s) assault a mother and her child, leading to civil charges. Victoria Keenan and her son Jason stop briefly in front of the Aryan Nations compound in Hayden Falls, Idaho, to retrieve something that has fallen from their car. The car either backfires or someone sets off a firecracker; whatever the source of the sound, the guards believe the compound is under fire from the car. They pursue it in a pickup truck, firing repeatedly at the vehicle before shooting out a tire and forcing it into a ditch. The guards assault both mother and son before releasing them. In response, Keenan and her son retain attorneys, including a team from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), to sue Aryan Nations leader Richard Butler and the three guards. During the trial, Butler tells the jury, “The white race is the most endangered species on the face of the earth.” Two years later, a jury assesses a $6.3 million judgment against the defendants. $6 million of the judgment is in punitive damages. Butler himself is responsible for $4.8 million because he had hired ex-convicts as security guards, given them no training or formal policies to follow, armed them with illegal assault weapons, and indoctrinated them in racist, hate-filled ideology. The Keenans’ lawyers successfully argue that the actions of his guards were a foreseeable result of his negligent and reckless supervision. The courtroom defeat ultimately forces Butler to relinquish the Idaho compound in a bankruptcy auction. The new owners demolish the buildings. [Southern Poverty Law Center, 2010; Southern Poverty Law Center, 2010]