Extremism in Northern Idaho

Tony Stewart, one of the original members of Coeur d’Alene’s Human Rights Task Force, and Bill Morlin, a reporter for the Spokesman Review who covered extremism and hate groups for nearly four decades in the Pacific Northwest, talked about extremism in Northern Idaho. They spoke specifically about Richard Butler and the growth of the Aryan Nations. Richard Butler moved into Hayden, Idaho, and built his compound in 1973. For about 30 years, the Aryan Nations operated out of that compound promoting their agenda of white supremacy. In response, a group of concerned citizens in Coeur d’Alene created a Human Rights Task Force to combat Butler.

C-SPAN’s Local Content Vehicles (LCVs) made a stop in their “2013 LCV Cities Tour” in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, from November 4-7 to feature the history and literary life of the community. Working with the Time Warner Cable local affiliate, they visited literary and historic sites where local historians, authors, and civic leaders were interviewed close