Who can claim the Aryan Nations name?

The neo-Nazi who visited John Day last week claims he’s the leader of the Aryan Nations, as does a man in St. Cloud, Fla.

But neither has the right to use the name.

The original group was led by white supremacist Richard Butler from a 20-acre compound near Hayden Lake, Idaho.

Butler was forced to sell the compound in 2000 after a Native American mother and son successfully sued the group for shooting at them. As part of a $6.3 million judgment, Victoria and Jason Keenan won the legal right to the name.

“None of them have legitimate use of it,” said Tony Stewart, a human rights activist who helped represent the Keenans. “The Keenans could go to court and refuse to let them use it.”

That hasn’t stopped Paul Mullet of Athol, Idaho, from claiming the name — or from generating an uproar by telling John Day residents he’s looking to site a headquarters there.

Nor has it stopped August Kreis III of St. Cloud, who says he’s the true leader as well as “an equal opportunity hater — I hate everyone.”

“I don’t even know who Paul Mullet is,” said Kreis, 55. “There’s a bunch of idiots up there in Idaho.”

Kreis said the original group “broke up into a bunch of phony splinter groups that nobody could keep track of” after Butler’s death in 2004.

“You’ve got another guy in New Jersey claiming the same thing,” he said.

Heidi Beirich, research director for the

, civil-rights group in Montgomery, Ala., acknowledged that there are “remnants of people around the country who claim the mantle of the Aryan Nations.”

-- Richard Cockle

CANYON CITY --

residents turned out in force Friday morning to send a message to a white supremacist group: Stay out.

About 375 people -- in a northeast Oregon county of fewer than 8,000-- attended a town hall meeting to fight a plan by a group calling itself the

to plant a national headquarters in

.

"Never have I been to a community who reacted so quickly as you have to say no," civil rights activist Tony Stewart of

, told a standing-room-only crowd at the Canyon City Community Hall just south of John Day.

At least 100 others were turned away because of fire code restrictions. About 300 more watched a live stream on the Internet, said Scotta Callister, editor of the

newspaper in John Day, which sponsored the meeting.

"It gave this community a chance to put a voice to its values," Callister said. "That's powerful."

The community was reacting to a visit last week by Paul R. Mullet of Athol, Idaho, who told townspeople he is the leader of the neo-Nazi group and is shopping for John Day property for a new headquarters.

At Friday morning's forum, Stewart was joined by Coeur d'Alene attorney Norman Gissell to offer encouragement and advice. The pair have battled neo-Nazi groups for 29 years and helped win a landmark judgment in 2000 against Idaho's original Aryan Nations, leading to the group's downfall.

Many in the crowd, unmistakably rural in jeans and cowboy boots, said they've never dealt with white supremacists and neo-Nazis and aren't sure what to do.

"I'm worried about my children," said one woman, fearing the group might try to recruit her 14-year-old stepson.

Others asked Stewart and Gissell how they could recognize hate-group members, how to interact with them in chance encounters at the grocery store or post office, and what their rights are if they have land for sale but don't want to sell to members of the hate group.

Some fretted about potential damage to the economy and the county's image. One man asked whether media coverage is likely to encourage the neo-Nazis or keep them out.

Stewart assured him the attention will work in the community's favor.

"Evil can grow in darkness," he said. "The greatest danger is ignoring them and letting them grow."

Gissell told the gathering that supremacists have sought a racist homeland in rural America since the 1970s on the mistaken assumption that rural people are racist and would join them.

Stewart advised vigilance because, he said, the presence of a hate group inevitably leads to violence. "They won't stop with just literature," he said. "After a period of time, they will go over the line."

Callister said the intentions of Mullet and his associates remain unknown. "They could move in. They could go away and never come back," she said.

"If they do come, they won't have any success," Stewart told residents. "You have spoken with one voice, and there is no way hate can penetrate that kind of unity. You will win."

At the end of the morning session -- another was scheduled for Friday night -- retired bus driver Meliana Lysne stood to speak.

She told how she feared racism when she moved to John Day 36 years ago but found "the people of Grant County are beautiful people."

"They are standing against this," she said, adding: "Loving one another is going to break this hatred."

Those gathered gave Lysne a standing ovation, some brushing tears from their eyes.

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