New York, NY, July 17, 2002 … After a debilitating lawsuit led to the confiscation last year of the Aryan Nations compound in Northern Idaho, leaders of this once notorious neo-Nazi group have moved on to found dangerous new splinter groups in Ohio, Idaho and Pennsylvania.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which monitors and exposes the activities of extremist groups, today warned that several nascent Aryan Nations offshoots constitute "a significant threat" based on their increasingly virulent rhetoric and calls to violence on the Internet. ADL has notified local and national law enforcement of the presence of these new groups, several of which have issued calls to violence and intimidation based on the concept known as "Phineas Priest." The "Phineas Priest" ideology encourages followers to strike out in the most violent and ruthless way against "race mixers," abortionists, homosexuals, Jews and other perceived enemies.

"You have a situation where former Aryan Nations leaders are engaged in a dangerous game of one-upmanship, and this has created an intensification of the anti-Semitic, homophobic and racist rhetoric that had always been at the core of this group's hateful message," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "Each of these groups is engaged in a dangerous competition to prove themselves as the true successor to Aryan Nations. This has led to increasing calls to violence based on the dangerous Christian Identity concept of Phineas Priests."

As part of this intensifying competition between the various groups, the Pennsylvania faction of Aryan Nations is convening an "Aryan Nations World Congress 2002" this summer in Ulysses (Potter County) Pennsylvania. The gathering, scheduled July 26-28, is being held on the private property of white supremacist August Kreis in an attempt to emulate the Aryan Nations congresses held in Idaho in previous years.

Speakers at the Congress will include James Wickstrom, a leader in the racist and anti-Semitic Christian Identity movement; Gary Blackwell, an Identity minister from Michigan; Barry Harris, an Identity minister from North Carolina; and Hal Turner, a virulently anti-Semitic host of a shortwave radio show. In addition, the group claims that various Klan factions and leaders will attend the event, including Bradley Jenkins, Grand Dragon of the KKK Realm of Alabama and David Hull of the White Knights of Pennsylvania. The Congress also features a concert with a roster of "white power" rock bands popular among racists, including Intimidation One, Max Resist, Definite Hate and No Alibi.

The Phineas Priesthood does not exist as an organization or formal group, but a number of individual extremists have identified themselves as Phineas Priests, often as a way to justify criminal acts they had committed. Richard Kelly Hoskins, an adherent of the racist and anti-Semitic Identity movement, derived the idea from the biblical Phinehas, who used a spear to slay an Israelite and a Midianite who had lain together. Phineas Priests believe themselves modern-day Phinehases, with a self-appointed mission to strike out against Jews and nonwhite "mud people."

• Church of the Sons of Yahweh. Dayton, Ohio.

  The Church of the Sons of Yahweh was founded by white supremacists Harold "Ray" Redfeairn, of Dayton, Ohio, who briefly headed Aryan Nations, and Morris Gulett, an associate of Redfeairn now living in Louisiana. The group, which supports "racial segregation and white racial supremacy," has adopted the concept of a violent class of white "warriors for God," or the Phineas Priesthood. The Church may be the most dangerous of the various successor groups. Redfeairn and Gulett are among the most radical former Aryan Nations members. Both men have violent criminal pasts. Redfeairn and Gulett have announced a radio broadcast on the subject of "The Holocaust: Does Yahweh demand genocide?" This is billed as a "hard hitting Jew exposing sermon," in which Redfeairn asks, "Does God demand the total annihilation of a particular people?"

  Redfeairn was convicted of shooting a Dayton police officer during a traffic stop in 1979. Since his release from prison in 1991, Redfeairn has had several encounters with the law. Redfeairn emerged as the Ohio leader of Aryan Nations in 1997, establishing his headquarters in an old Klan hall building in New Vienna. He later was a frequent visitor to Richard Butler's Aryan Nations compound in Hayden Lake, Idaho, and viewed himself as Butler's successor.

  Gulett, a disciple of Redfeairn, started in his mentor's gang of Ohio Aryans. In March 1997, Gulett was arrested for ramming a Dayton police cruiser with his van. He pleaded guilty and served a year in prison. Gulett later became the Louisiana State Aryan Nations leader.

• Church of Jesus Christ Christian/Aryan Nations. Ulysses, Pennsylvania.

  Led by white supremacists August Kreis and Charles Juba, this "radical" Aryan Nations faction has openly proclaimed on its Web site that "We are not a non-violent organization" and announced its support for "any and all efforts that disrupt the system and lead to system breakdown." This group also claims to have contacts in New York.

• Church of Jesus Christ Christian/Aryan Nations. Hayden Lake, Idaho.

  With its so-called "World Headquarters" in Hayden Lake, this "remnant" Aryan Nations faction is led by the ailing Richard Butler and his assistant, Shaun Winkler. Other prominent leaders are based in Minnesota, Maryland and Wisconsin. The group also claims contacts in California, New Hampshire, Louisiana, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina and Pennsylvania. On its Web site, the group asserts that the Aryan Nations group led by Kreis is a "bogus organization," designed to "siphon off support of the true organization."

• Church of True Israel. Couer d'Alene, Idaho.
  This was the first splinter group from Aryan Nations, established sometime after 1996. Prominent leaders include Charles Mangels of Montana, James Dillavou of Idaho, John Miller of Montana, Ed Dosh of Montana, Stanley McCollum of Alabama and John Burke of Idaho.

  EDITORS NOTE: To speak with an expert on far-right extremist groups, contact the ADL Media Relations Department.

  For more information: Breakup of Aryan Nations Leads to Formation of Successor Groups

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.