Montana dealing with new influx of white supremacists
News4
Friday, November 17th, 2006
KALISPELL, MT. -- An alarming but familiar trend is being seen in the Inland Northwest as the
Montana Human Rights Network says that state is seeing a new influx of white supremacists.
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Over the past several years the network has noticed supremacists lead massive literature drops, run for state and local offices and are now attending local schools. The state noticed a similar trend in the early 1980s and as a result, formed the Montana Human Rights Network and for a while the group was declaring victory until recently.
Travis McAdam has kept a close eye on who's moving to the state and says the group, which was formed in the early 1980s because of a surge in white supremacist activity recently believed its mission, was met.
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McAdam says that was the first sign of a familiar trend and can now point to several white supremacy leaders currently recruiting in Montana. Known white supremacist
Kevin McGuire recently used his candidacy for school board in Bozeman to spread his message. Last December the
American Nazi Party – which on its website says is 'inspired by Hitler' and uses what it calls the 'sacred' swastika as its symbol – announced it was creating a Montana chapter and now has offices in Butte, Billings and Libby.
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Recently
ABC’s Primetime featured Lamb and Lynx Gaede, 14-year old twin girls who make up the singing group Prussian Blue. The two, since birth, have been fed white nationalist beliefs, and now share them in their music. The twins, who look like the girls next door and are often compared to Mary-Kate and Ashley Olson – have become the face and voice of the National Alliance, a white nationalist organization. Their lyrics are seen by many as a message of hate with some songs praising Adolf Hitler...
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During the interview the girls’ mom told ABC they would be moving from Bakersfield, California because the city wasn't white enough.
Bill Matteer and his wife Rebecca happened to be watching the segment from their Kalispell home, shocked to hear the girls' statements. More shocked though, when he realized why the girls, and their mother, looked so familiar.
"I was like ‘Yeah … that's my neighbor, that's the lady," Matteer said.
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After researching the Gaedes’ beliefs, after seeing the girls dance around a swastika in the documentary "Louis and the Nazis" the couple began the 'No Hate Here' campaign. The Matteers say they got the support of dozens of neighbors who displayed the 'No Hate Here' poster in their windows.
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The Matteers, who say their campaign was executed in the same way white nationalists hand out their literature and pamphlets, never expected the backlash but within days, their private information - their address and their telephone number – was smeared on white supremacist websites and they received threatening phone calls, letters and death threats.
“Parties on both sides have received what I consider death threats," Kalispell Police Chief Frank Garner says.
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McAdam says when communities try to ignore the white supremacists living nearby, it can lead to more supremacists moving in. In fact, McAdam says the Gaedes are the latest in a string of white nationalists to move to Montana and they're using music, one of the most popular tools to recruit, and its aimed at a young demographic. The Matteers say the best, and most convenient audience is the girls' classmates.
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Lamb and Lynx Gaede and their mother April were contacted for an interview for this story but April would only consent to it if we agreed to her requests. Those requests were not granted.
In response, April Gaede posted our entire e-mail exchange on at least three different white supremacist websites which in turn ignited hundreds of responses.
