Anti - Defamation League823 United Nations Plaza, NewYork, NY 10017

LYNNE IANNIELLODirector, Communications

6JL-/ofB'naiBrith212-490-2525 Telex 649278

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New York, NY, Jan. 24,....Hatemongering has entered the computer age with

right-wing extremists employing modern technology to spread racial and

religious bigotry, the Anti-Defamation of B'nai B'rith revealed today.

According to an ADL report, two "networks of hate" accessed through

a home computer and a modem (phone link-up) are currently operating in

the United States.

Justin J. Finger, director of ADL's Civil Rights Division, said the

more widely publicized of the two is operated by the Aryan Nations, an

Idaho-based group that disseminates racist and anti-Semitic propaganda

and which seeks to set up a "nationalist racist state." Known as the

"Aryan Nation Liberty Net," the computer network was established and is

run by Louis Beam, a leader of Aryan Nations and a grand dragon of the

Texas state unit of the Knights of the Ku KIux Klan. The ADL report

notes that some members of an Aryan Nations splinter group have been im-

plicated in a series of armed robberies and shootouts with law enforce-

ment officials.

The other hate network, "Info International," is operated out of

West Virginia by George Dietz, a farm broker who runs Liberty Bell Publi-

cations, one of the largest outlets for neo-Nazi literature in the U.S.,

the ADL report said. Dietz emigrated to this country in 1957 from Ger-

many, where he had earlier been a member of the' Hitler Youth Organiza-

tion. His "Info International" is similar in content to the Aryan Na-

tions1 network and also purveys anti-Semitism, including Holocaust re-

visionism that questions the reality of the Nazi massacre of Jews. The

hate messages on both networks include anti-Israel and anti-Zionist prop-

aganda.

The danger from computerized hatemongering, according to Mr. Finger,

"lies not only in facilitating the spread of bigotry and anti-democratic

propaganda but in its potential impact on impressionable young people,

many of whom today are computer users."

(more)Founded in 1913 "to stop the defamation of the Jewish people . . . to secure justice and fair treatment to all citizens alike.'

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The ADL report, prepared by the Fact Finding Department of ADL's

Civil Rights Division, gave the following account of how the computer

network is used.

Access to the Aryan Nation Liberty Net is made by dialing specified

phone numbers in Idaho, Texas, or North Carolina. Once the connection is

made, the caller follows a few simple commands to receive a variety of

hate messages.

Authorized users of the system are encouraged to deposit their own

hate messages. For example, a network message left by Midwest Aryan Na-

tions1 leader Robert Miles (under his code name of "Fafnir") predicts

that the violent tactics of the Irish Republican Army "will be seen

across this land" and goes on to state that the younger members of hate

groups such as his "have no time for pamphlets, for speeches, for gather-

ings, they know their role...They are the armed party."

The ADL report said that in addition to hate propaganda, the Aryan

Nations' network supplies under the heading of "enemies" a listing of the

addresses and phone numbers of the Anti-Defamation League's national and

regional offices. In the same category are listed what the Aryan Nations

refers to as "informers" for the "Zionist Occupational Government," its

name for the United States government. Another group of "enemies" is la-

beled "race traitors" and is accessible, the network claims, only to cal-

lers with special clearance.

Also provided are the names and addresses of so-called patriotic or-

ganizations, including a variety of neo-Nazi, Klan and armed racist

groups such as the Christian Patriots Defense League and the Covenant,

the Sword and the Arm of the Lord. The computer supplies dates and loca-

tions of their meetings.

One of the figures involved in promoting the Aryan Nations' Liberty

Net is Glenn Miller, leader of the most active and militant Klan organi-

zation in North Carolina. Some of the members of the group, which spon-

sors paramilitary training, were involved in a Shootout in Greensboro, NC

in 1979 that left five persons dead.

The report points out that one of the stated purposes of the compu-

terized network is to bypass a Canadian embargo on the importation of

hate literature into Canada. It quotes Louis Beam as having boasted that

his group has ended Canadian "censorship."

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Mr. Finger said that "although purveyors of hate material are seek-

ing to adapt to the computer age, we see little evidence to suggest a

great leap forward in the spread of anti-Semitic and racist propaganda."

He added, however, that "given the objectives and ideology of those who

are most prominent in this network, it is a development which merits con-

tinued monitoring."

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Computerized Networks of HateAn ADL Fact Finding Report

X ^ - ' oitiD

oi B'nai BrilhLeague

Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rithNew York, N.Y.

FACT FINDINGREPORT

is a periodic report of the Ami-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith. 823 United Nations Plaza, New York. NY 10017

Kenneth J. Bialkin, National Chairman: Nathan Perlmutter. National Director; Burton S. Levinson, Chairman, National ExscutiveCommittee: Abraham H. Foxman, Associate National Director; Seymour-D. Reich, Chairman, National Civil Rights Committee:Irving Shapiro. Vice-Chairman; Justin J, Finger, Civil Riahts Director: Jeffrey P. Sinensky, Assistant Civil Rights Director; MarciaGoldstein, Chairman. Fact Finding Committee: Alan Linker, Vice-Chairman: Irwin J. Suall. Director, Fact Finding Department.

This issue prepared by David Lowe, Assistant Diractor. Fact Finding Department.

Computerized Networks of Hate

Right-wing extremists have moved into the era of high technology throughtwo computerized networks which link like-minded activists from all over thecountry. These operations are the work of Louis Beam, Texas Grand Dragon ofthe Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and a leader of the Idaho-based hate groupknown as the Aryan Nations, and George Dietz, a prosperous farm broker wholives in West Virginia and owns the largest neo-Nazi publishing mill in theUnited States. The system established by Beam — it can be accessed by dial-ing phone numbers in Idaho, Texas, or North Carolina — is sponsored by theAr, an Nations, some of whose members have been implicated recently in a seriesr armed robberies, shootouts with federal law enforcement officials and plansto carry out acts of urban terrorism.

Anyone with a home computer and a modem (phone link-up) can reach thesebulletin boards by phone. Once the connection is made, the caller follows afew simple commands in order to receive a variety of hate messages. Onlythose authorized users whose passwords have been approved by the systems'operators are entitled to deposit messages and gain access to a list of their"members" (i.e., those who have been issued passwords).

Hate on 'Level Seven'

The use of computer technology marks a new departure for hate groups andrepresents an effort to give right-wing extremism a modern" look. In a recentannouncement promoting the Aryan Nations' system, Louis Beam calls it a"patriotic brain trust" and boasts that "computers are now bringing theirpower and capabilities to the.American Nationalist Movement." Although someof the claims made for the system are exaggerated ("the possibilities," Beamremarks, "have only been touched upon"), it does offer extremists a trendy wayto spread hate propaganda.

Not everyone is welcomed to phone into the networks. Under the heading"Info About System," the user of the "Aryan Nation Liberty Net" is made awarethat it is "a pro-American, pro-white, anti-Communist network of truebelievers who serve the one and only God — Jesus, the Christ" and that it is"for Aryan patriots only." In addition to hate propaganda, this network alsoprovides the names and addresses of other "patriotic" organizations, announce-ments of dates and locations of upcoming Klan and neo-Nazi meetings, and enemylists, some of which it claims can only be accessed if one has the proper("level seven") clearance.

(over)

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The neo-Nazi bulletin boards serve the hate movement in a variety ofways. First, by using computer technology which attracts young computer"hackers," they seek to spread their hate propaganda among young people,surely the most vulnerable to its influence. Second, they are able to bypassthe closely enforced embargo which authorities have placed on the importationof hate literature into Canada. (In fact, Beam claims that his system was setup precisely for the purpose of combating this embargo, and has boasted thathis group has "ended Canadian censorship.") The computer also supplies infor-mation about current trials in Canada involving the prosecution of neo-Nazisfor spreading hate propaganda.

The third purpose of the bulletin boards is to stir up hatred againstthose whom the neo-Nazi organizers regard as their "enemies." For example,the system supplies the names and addresses of all national and regionaloffices of the Anti-Defamation League. Given the venomous attacks on Jewswhich callers are fed while using the system, its organizers would seem to besending a clear signal of encouragement to engage in acts of harassment oreven violence. Thus, in a message to his members advertising the computer,North Carolina Klan leader Glenn Miller reports that "We have an up-to-datelist of many of the Jew headquarters around the country so that you can paythem a friendly visit."

The computer network is also a means by which its organizers make money.A $5 fee is charged for a password to gain access to the system. Also, publi-cations offered for sale are promoted electronically.

Finally, the system offers the potential for circulating coded messagesamong like-minded right-wing activists.

'Aryan' Technology vs. 'ZOG' . -

The material disseminated on the "Aryan Nation Liberty Net" falls intothree categories. The preponderance of it is hate propaganda, some taken fromprinted sources, which attacks Jews, other minorities and the federal govern-ment (often referred to as the "Zionist Occupational Government," or "ZOG").Much of this propaganda is supplied in the form of messages left by users ofthe system. Most of these messages are the work of Louis Beam, who often usespseudonyms such as Nathan Bedford Forrest, the name of the Confederate generalwho led the Klan after the Civil War. In one message, Beam quotes AryanNations leader Richard Butler:

"There exists only one issue — race! Race is the politi-cal issue, the moral issue, the war issue, the religiousissue, the economic issue, the cultural issue, and theissue of all law. There exists no issue that does nothave race as its foundation."

In another message entitled "Liberate Texas," Beam places the federal govern-ment and "those who aid" it on notice: "we intend to break the chains thatbind us to the federals."

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A second category of material concerns purported enemies and includes thelisting of ADL offices. An entire section entitled "Know Your Enemies"includes the listing of "race traitors" and is said to be accessible only withspecial clearance. Nevertheless, any user of the system has access to a list-ing of known "ZOG informers," which was increased from two to three following •the December, 1984 death of former Aryan Nations member Robert Mathews in aviolent confrontation with FBI officials in Washington State. Mathews isreported by "A/N [i.e., Aryan Nations] intelligence" to have been informed onby a neo-Nazi from Philadelphia named Tom Martinez, a former lieutenant in the1970s for David Duke's Knights of the KKK. Martinez was also affiliated withthe National Alliance, a neo-Nazi organization headquartered in Washington,DC.

The two other "ZOG informers" listed are: Russell Rector, alleged to bea paid informer for the FBI in a case in the early 1970s involving a plan tobomb the transmitters of a left-wing California radio network, and Ward"Buster" Keaton, described as a Klan activist who "used his position to gatherinformation on Texas patriots." A footnote in the report on Keaton statesthat Keaton was killed in an explosion emanating from his mailbox.• (Texasauthorities have linked Keaton's death last summer to a family dispute.)

At the end of the computer message on Rector, he is said to be "wanted bythe Aryan Resistance for treason to the Constitution of our founding fathers."(Rector served as a government witness in a case involving a friend of LouisBeam who was convicted in 1971 of conspiracy to bomb the transmitters of aCalifornia radio station.) Those knowing his whereabouts are asked to reportthem "to this station."

The computer section on "ZOG informers" opens with the courtroom state-ment of Perry "Red" Warthan, a California neo-Nazi who was convicted in 1982for the killing of a 17-year-old member of his organization whom he considereda "traitor." The computer message states: "What better way to begin our listthan with the statement of a man recently accused of executing one? Hail vic-tory!" In his statement, Warthan acuses the "Jewish-controlled media andchurches" of using a violent act "as an excuse to remove me from the streetsand silence my voice."

A third section of the bulletin board network provides listings of"patriotic groups" with the notation that "The following organizations fightfor America." They include a variety of neo-Nazi and Klan organizations andarmed racist groups such as the Christian Patriots Defense League and the Cov-enant, the Sword and the Arm of the Lord. Those wishing to have their groups •included are requested to send "pertinent information" to Aryan Nations head-quarters and a $5 fee is charged for a listing.

In a fundraising appeal to his followers in October, 1984, Aryan Nationsleader Richard Butler explained what he regards as the rationale and impor-tance of the new technology:

(over)

"The Aryan Nations computer network is designed to bringtruth and knowledge to our people on the North-Americancontinent, especially those of our Northern cousins whoare now chained by Jew Communist KGB 'thought control'police a la George Orwell's 1984. . .

"You may ask 'why the computer. . . technology?1 Theanswer is simple, because it is our Aryan technology justas is the printing press, radio, airplane, auto, etc.,etc. We must use our own God-given technology in callingour race back to our Father's Organic Law."

The Network Leaders

Richard Butler, 65, is the former Lockheed engineer who founded the AryanNations organization in the early '70s and moved it from Southern Californiato its current site in Hayden Lake, Idaho. The organization is associatedwith Butler's "Church of Jesus Christ Christian" and adheres to the "Identity"doctrine, a racist and anti-Semitic theology which contends that white"Aryans" are God's true chosen people and the Jews are instruments of Satan.

The organization's ultimate aim is the establishment of "a nationalistracist state." In furtherance of this aim it has sponsored a series of summerconferences attended by leaders of the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazi organizationsand like-minded groups which are part of the "Identity" movement. At the con-ference held in the summer of 1984, seminars were offered in urban guerrillawarfare.

One of the regular seminar leaders at the Aryan Nations' annual confer-ence is Klan leader Beam, who serves as the organization's "Ambassador-at-large" and whom many in the movement regard as Butler's heir apparent. Beam,as his role in establishing the "Aryan Nation Liberty Net", indicates, is alsoa key link between the Aryan Nations and other organizations on the extremeright.

A Vietnam veteran, Louis Beam played a major role in the late 1970s inrecruiting Army personnel in Fort Hood, Texas. As Texas Grand Dragon of theKnights of the Ku Klux Klan during those same years, he also recruited andtrained Klan members in paramilitary camps in east Texas. In 1980, he wasconvicted of using government property in Fort Worth for paramilitary exer-cises without a permit and was placed on six months probation.

The third figure involved in promoting the Aryan Nations' computerizednetwork of hate is Glenn Miller of North Carolina, leader of the most activeand militant Klan organization in North Carolina, the "Confederate Knights."Miller, once a member of the neo-Nazi National Socialist Party of America, isa former U.S. Army sergeant who, like his friend Louis Beam, is a veteran ofthe Vietnam war. His Klan organization sponsors paramilitary training exer-cises for members. Some were involved in the Shootout in Greensboro, NorthCarolina in 1979 which left five members of the Communist Workers Party dead. '

— 5 —

In a recorded telephone message announcing the establishment of his "com-puter Information data bank" in'Fayetteville, North Carolina, Miller assertedthat It was set up as a result of the tremendously favorable response by theinformation-starved American people to the lines already established in Dallasand in Idaho. In fact, It is simply another phone number for gaining accessto the Aryan Nations' network.

George Dietz, whose computer bulletin board (known as "Info Interna-tional") is similiar in content to the Aryan Nations' system, describes it as"the only computer bulletin board system and uncontrolled information mediumin the United States of America dedicated to the dissemination of historicalfacts — not fiction!" Dietz's entry into the field of electronically dissem-inated hate propaganda is consistent with his role as one of the largest pub-lishers of neo-Nazi materials In the United States. Much of what he offers,those who gain access to his bulletin board denies the reality of the Holo-caust against European Jewry during World War II.

A naturalized U.S. citizen who has boasted of his service in the HitlerYouth, Dietz emigrated from Germany in 1957, and has since prospered as a farmbroker. Much of the material he produces under the banner of "Liberty BellPublications" reflects his attitude towards Jews, whom he has described as a"criminal gang" who "are manipulating for the benefit of their own evil ends,'everyone's life, in almost every country on earth." Liberty Bell Publicationshas become a source of Nazi propaganda which has, in recent years, been smug-gled into West Germany, where distribution of such materials is illegal.

Among the topics of "general interest" Dietz makes available on his com-puter line are "Holocaust: Fact or Fiction?", "Who Are The Money Creators!"and "The Jew in Review." (He also includes a section on "West Virginia RealEstate Bargains.") As in the case of the Aryan Nations' system where Beamapproves user passwords, one gains regular access to "Info International" bysending $5 to Dietz, who offers the prospective user — if approved — a vali-dated password.

The 'Dragons of God'

Although the purveyors of this hate material have clearly adapted to the"computer age," there is little to suggest that this represents a great leapforward in the spread of anti-Semitic and racist propaganda. Nevertheless,complacency about this new development would be unwise; to the extent thatmany users of computerized data banks are impressionable young people vulner-able to propaganda, these new developments are a cause for some concern.

More troubling, the use of new technology to link together hate groupactivists coincides with an escalation of serious talk among some of themabout the necessity of committing acts of terror. Indeed, certain AryanNations members have already begun to translate such talk into action. At thetime of this writing, law enforcement officials are still tracking down mem-bers of an Aryan Nations "splinter group" implicated in a series of West Coast

(over)

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crimes, including armed robberies, shootouts with authorities and the stock-piling of illegal weapons. Butler has described one of them, Robert Mathews,who died in a Shootout with FBI officials, as a man of the "highest idealismand moral character." These acts come on the heels of an Aryan Nations con-ference last summer when seminars were offered in urban guerrilla warfare.

If there is a single theme characteristic of the computerized hate mes-sages, it is that "enemies" should be placed on notice that the days of simplytalking about committing acts of violence may be ending. In a message left byMidwest Aryan Nations leader Robert Miles (under his code name "Fafnir"), t!r aimpending campaign is compared with the cycle of violence experienced over theyears by the people of Ireland:

"Soon, our own version of the 'troubles' will be wide-spread. The pattern of operations of the IRA will be seenacross this land.

"We, the older and less active spokesmen for the folk andfaith are being replaced by the young lions. These drag-ons of God have no time for pamphlets, for speeches, forgatherings, they know their role. They know their duty.They are the armed party which is being born out of theinability of white male youths to be heard. They are theproducts of the failure of"this Satanic, anti-white fed-eral monstrosity to listen to more peaceful voices, suchas our own.

"We called for the dog federals to let our people go! Wecalled for the government in Le Cesspool Grande to let usbe apart from their social experiments in their mongrel-ism. But to no avail. And now, as we had warned, nowcome the Icemen! Out of the North, out of the frozenlands, once again the giants gather. Soon, Americabecomes Ireland recreated."

January, 1985

NATIONAL AFFAIRS

Computerized Networks of

"The use of new technology to link together hate group activists coincides with an es-calation of serious talk among some of them about. . . committing acts of terrorism."

by David Lowe

R IGHT-WING extremists have movedinto the era of high technology

through two computerized networks whichlink like-minded activists from all over thecountry These operations are the work ofLouis Beam, Texas Grand Dragon of theKnights of the Ku Klux Klan and a leaderof the Idaho-based hate group known asthe Aryan Nations, and George Dietz, aprosperous farm broker who lives in WestVirginia and owns the largest neo-Nazipublishing mill in the U.S. The systemestablished by Beam—it can be accessedby dialing phone numbers in Idaho, Texas,or North Carolina—is sponsored by theAryan Nations, some of whose membershave been implicated recently in a series ofarmed robberies, shootouts with Federallaw enforcement officials, and plans tocarry out acts of urban terrorism.

Anyone with a home computer and amodem (phone link-up) can reach thesebulletin boards by phone. Once the con-nection is made, the caller follows a fewsimple commands in order to receive avariety of hate messages. Only those

Mr. Lowe is assistant director of theFact Finding Department of the Anti-Defa-mation League of B'nai B'rith. New York.

authorized users whose passwords havebeen approved by the systems' operatorsare entitled to deposit messages and gainaccess to a list of their "members" (i.e.,those who have been issued passwords).

The use of computer technology marksa new departure for hate groups and repre-sents an effort to give right-wing ex-tremism a modern look. In a recent an-nouncement promoting the Aryan Na-tions' system, Beam calls it a 'patrioticbrain trust" and boasts that "computersare now bringing their power and capabili-ties to the American Nationalist Move-ment." Although some of the claims madefor the system are exaggerated ("the possi-bilities," Beam claims, "have only beentouched upon"), it does offer extremists atrendy way to spread hate propaganda.

Not everyone is welcomed to phone intothe networks. Under the heading "InfoAbout System," the user of the Aryan Na-tion Liberty Net is made aware that it is " apro-American, pro-white, anti-Commu-nist network of true believers who servethe one and only God—Jesus, the Christ"and that it is "for Aryan patriots only." Inaddition to hate propaganda, this networkalso provides the names and addresses ofother "patr iot ic" organizations, an-nouncements of dates and locations of up-coming Klan and neo-Nazi meetings, andenemy lists, some of which it claims canonly be accessed if one has the proper

("level seven") clearance.The neo-Nazi bulletin boards serve the

hate movement in a variety of ways. First,by using computer technology which at- •tracts young computer 'hackers," they .jseek to spread their hate propaganda''among young people, surely the most vul-nerable to its influence. Second, they artable to bypass the closely enforced embar*go which authorities have placed on theimportation of hate literature into Cana-da. (In fact, Beam claims that his systemwas set up precisely for the purpose of s

combating this embargo, and has boastedthat his group has "ended Canadian cen-sorship.") The computer also supplies in-formation about current trials in Canadainvolving the prosecution of neo-Nazis forspreading hate propaganda.

The third purpose of the bulletin boardiis to stir up hatred against those whom theneo-Nazi organizers regard as their "ene- •mies." For example, the system suppiietthe names and addresses of all national'and regional offices of the Anti-Defamt-.tion League (ADL) Given the venomourattacks on Jews which callers are fed whileusing the system, its organizers would.,;seem to be sending a clear signal of *»*|couragement to engage in acts of haraiMment or even violence. Thus, in a messaflto his members advertising the computer, ,North Carolina Klan leader Glenn Millerreports that "We have an up-to-date list of

10 USATODAY JULY 1886

FOR ARYAN PATRIOTS ONLY• Up-to-date list of Jew

headquarters• Race traitors• ZOG informers

many of the Jew headquarters around thecountry so that you can pay them a friend-ly visit."

The computer network is also a meansby which its organizers make money. A55.00 fee is charged for a password to gainaccess to the system. Also, publications of-ftred for sale are promoted electronically.Finally, the system offers the potential forcirculating coded messages among like-minded right-wing activists.

"Aryan" technologyvs. "ZOG"

The material disseminated on the AryanNation Liberty Net falls into three cate-gories The preponderance of it is hatepropaganda, some taken from printedsources, which attacks Jews, other minori-ties, and the Federal government (often re-ared to as the "Zionist OccupationalGovernment," or "ZOG") . Much of thispropaganda is supplied in the form of mes-sages left by users of the system. Most ofiliese messages arc the work of LouisBeam, who often uses pseudonyms such asNathan Bedford Forrest, the name of theConfederate general who led the Klan af-icr the Civil War In one message, Beamquotes Aryan Nations leader Richard But-

Ftiere exists only one issue—race! Race is the

USATODAY / JULY 1985

political issue, the moral issue, the war issue,the religious issue, the economic issue, the cul-tural issue, and the issue of all law. There existsno issue that does not have race as its founda-tion.

In another message entitled "LiberateTexas," Beam places the Federal govern-ment and "those who aid" it on notice:"We intend to break the chains that bindus to the federals."

A second category of material concernspurported enemies and includes the listingof ADL offices. An entire section, entitled"Know Your Enemies," includes the list-ing of "race traitors" and is said to be ac-cessible only with special clearance. Never-theless, any user of the system has accessto a listing of known "ZOG informers,"which was increased from two to three fol-lowing the December, 1984, death of for-mer Aryan Nations member Robert Math-ews in a violent confrontation with FBI of-ficials in Washington State Mathews isreported by "A/N [Aryan Nations) intelli-gence" to have been informed on by a neo-Nazi from Philadelphia named Tom Mar-tinez, a former lieutenant in the 1970's forDavid Duke's Knights of the KKK. Marti-nez was also affiliated with the NationalAlliance, a neo-Nazi organization head-quartered in Washington, DC

The two other "ZOG informers" listedare Russel Rector, alleged to be a paid in-

former for the FBI in a case in the early1970"s involving a plan LO bomb the trans-mitters of a. left-wing California radio net-work, and Ward "Buster" Keaton, de-scribed as a Klan activist who "used hisposition to gather information on Texaspatriots " A footnote in the report onKeaton states that Keaton was killed in anexplosion emanating from his mailbox.(Texas authorities have linked Keaton'sdeath in 1984 to a family dispute.)

At the end of the computer message onRector, he is said to be "wanted by theAryan Resistance for treason to the Con-stitution of our founding fathers." (Rec-tor served as a government witness in acase invohing a friend of Louis Beam whowas convicted in 1971 of conspiracy tobomb the transmitters of a Californiaradio station.) Those knowing his where-abouts are asked to report them "to thisstation

The computer section on "ZOG inform-ers" opens with the courtroom statementof Perry "Red" Warthan, a Californianeo-Nazi who was convicted in 1982 forthe killing of a 17-year-old member of hisorganization whom he considered a "trai-tor." The computer message states:"What better way to begin our list thanwith the statement of a man recently ac-cused of executing" one? Hail victory!" Inhis statement Warthan accuses the "Jew-ish-controlled media and churches" of us-

11

NATIONAL AFFAIRS

ing a violent act "as an excuse to removeme from the streets and silence my voice."

A third section of the bulletin board net-work provides listings of "patrioticgroups" with the notation that "The fol-lowing organizations fight for America."They include a variety of neo-Nazi andKlan organizations and armed racistgroups such as the Christian Patriots De-fense League and the Covenant, the Swordand the Arm of the Lord. Those wishing tohave their groups included are requested tosend "pertinent information" to AryanNations headquarters. A $5.00 fee ischarged for a listing.

In a fundraising appeal to his followersin October, 1984, Aryan Nations leaderRichard Butler explained what he regardsas the rationale and importance of the newtechnology:

The Aryan Nations computer network is de-signed to bring truth and knowledge to our peo-ple on the North-American continent, especiallythose of our Northern cousins who are nowchained by Jew Communist KGB "thoughtcontrol" police a la George Orwell's 1984. . . .

You may ask "why the computer . . . tech-nology?" The answer is simple, because it wowAryan technology just as is the printing press,radio, airplane, auto, etc., etc. We must use ourown God-given technology in calling our raceback to our Father's Organic Law.

The network leadersRichard Butler, 65, is a former Lockheed

engineer who founded the Aryan Nationsorganization in the early 1970's and movedit from Southern California to its currentsite in Hayden Lake, Idaho. The organiza-tion is associated with Butler's "Church ofJesus Christ Christian" and adheres to the"Identity" doctrine, a racist and anti-Se-mitic theology which contends that white"Aryans" are God's true chosen peopleand the Jews are instruments of Satan.

The organization's ultimate aim is theestablishment of " a nationalist raciststate." In furtherance of this aim, it hassponsored a series of summer conferencesattended by leaders of the Ku Klux Klan,neo-Nazi organizations, and like-mindedgroups which are part of the "Identity"movement. At the conference held in thesummer of 1984, seminars were offered inurban guerrilla warfare.

One of the regular seminar leaders at theAryan Nations' annual conference is Klanleader Louis Beam, who serves as the or-ganization's "Ambassador-at-large" andwhom many in the movement regard asButler's heir apparent. Beam, as his role inestablishing the Aryan Nation Liberty Netindicates, is also a key link between theAryan Nations and other organizations onthe extreme right. A Vietnam veteran,Beam played a major role in the late 1970'sin recruiting Army personnel in FortHood, Tex. As Texas Grand Dragon of

12

the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan duringthose same years, he also recruited- andtrained Klan members in paramilitarycamps in east Texas. In 1980, he was con-victed of using government property inFort Worth for paramilitary exerciseswithout a permit and was placed on sixmonths probation.

The third figure involved in promotingthe Aryan Nations' computerized networkof hate is Glenn Miller, leader of the mostactive and militant Klan organization inNorth Carolina, the "Confederate Knights."Miller, once a member of the neo-Nazi Na-tional Socialist Party of America, is a for-mer U.S. Army sergeant who, like hisfriend Louis Beam, is a veteran of theVietnam War. His Klan organizationsponsors paramilitary training exercisesfor members. Some were involved in theShootout in Greensboro, N.C., in 1979which left five members of the CommunistWorkers Party dead.

In a recorded telephone message an-nouncing the establishment of his "com-puter information data bank" in Fayette-ville, N.C., Miller asserted that it was setup as a result of the tremendously favor-able response by the information-starvedAmerican people to the lines already estab-lished in Dallas and Idaho. In fact, it issimply another phone number for gainingaccess to the Aryan Nations' network.

George Dietz. whose computer bulletinboard (known as "Info International") issimilar in content to the Aryan Nationssystem, describes it as "the only computerbulletin board system and uncontrolled in-formation medium in the United States ofAmerica dedicated to the dissemination ofhistorical facts—not fiction!" Dietz's en-try into the field of electronically dissem-inated hate propaganda is consistent withhis role as one of the largest publishers ofneo-Nazi materials in the U.S. Much ofwhat he offers those who gain access to hisbulletin board denies the reality of theHolocaust against European Jewry duringWorld War II.

A naturalized U.S. citizen who hasboasted of his service in the Hitler Youth,Dietz emigrated from Germany in 1957and has since prospered as a farm broker.Much of the material he produces underthe banner of "Liberty Bell Publications"reflects his attitude towards Jews, whomhe has described as a "criminal gang" who"are manipulating for the benefit of theirown evil ends, everyone's life, in almostevery country on earth. " Liberty Bell Pub-lications has become a source of Nazipropaganda which has, in recent years,been smuggled into West Germany, wheredistribution of such materials is illegal.

Among the topics of "general interest"Dietz makes available on his computer lineare "Holocaust: Fact or Fiction?," "WhoAre The Money Creators?," and "Thelew in Review." (He also includes a sec-tion on "West Virginia Real Estate Bar-

gains.") As in the case of the Aryan \ itions' system where Beam approve; yepasswords, one gains regular access •"Info International" by sending $5 i>'Dietz, who offers the prospective user -approved—a validated password.

Although the purveyors of this hate vr-.terial have clearly adapted to the conirter age," there is little to suggest that trrepresents a great leap forward in '•spread of anti-Semitic and racist pganda. Nevertheless, compiacenc\ ahthis new development would be unut-.the extent that many users of comiized data banks are impressionable H hpeople vulnerable to propaganda, tknew developments are a cause for ,concern.

More troubling, the use of new techno-logy to link together hate group activistscoincides with an escalation of serious talkamong some of them about the neces t̂of committing acts of terrorism. Indeedcertain Aryan Nations members have i1

ready begun to translate such talk into a.tion. At the time of this writing, law enforcement officials are still tracking do*'members of an Aryan Nations "splinvgroup" implicated in a series of \\mCoast crimes, including armed robbenes,shootouts with authorities, and the stoiApiling of illegal weapons. Butler has &•scribed one of them, Robert Matherwho died in a Shootout with FBI officeas a man of the "highest idealism ar,moral character." These acts come on theheels of an Aryan Nations conference inthe summer of 1984, when seminars wereoffered in urban guerrilla warfare.

If there is a single theme characteriseof the computerized hate messages, it isthat "enemies" should be placed on nottitthat the days of simply talking about com-mitting acts of violence may be ending. !na message left by Midwest Aryan Nationsleader Robert Miles (under his code name"Fafnir"), the impending campaign iscompared with the cycle of violence exper-ienced over the years by the people of Ire-land:

Soon, our own version of the "troubles" willbe widespread. The pattern of operations of thtIRA will be seen across this land.

We, the older and less active spokesmen ftxthe folk and faith are being replaced by theyoung lions. These dragons of God have notime for pamphlets, for speeches, for gather-ings, they know their role. They know their du-ty. They are the armed party which is bo'niborn out of the inability of white male youths labe heard. They are the products of the failureofthis Satanic, anti-white federal monstrosity tolisten to more peaceful voices, such as our own.

We called for the dog federals to let our peo-ple go! We called for the government in UCesspool Grande to let us be apart from thensocial experiments in their mongrelism. But tono avail. And now, as we had warned, no»come the Icemen! Out of the North, out of thefrozen lands, once again the giants gatherSoon, America becomes Ireland recreated.

USATODAY / JULY 1981

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