Idaho

Aryans want to carry loaded guns in parade
Supremacists say state law allows it, threaten suit if city tries to stop them
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Bill Morlin
Staff writer

Aryan Nations members who plan to march July 7 in downtown Coeur d'Alene want to carry loaded rifles and handguns, the group's staff leader said Wednesday.

"State law says we have the right to wear sidearms and carry rifles in upright positions," Aryan spokesman Shaun Winkler said.

"We plan to exercise that right when we march in Coeur d'Alene on July 7," he said. "State law is on our side on this issue."

Winkler estimated that 80 to 100 neo-Nazis, Aryans and other white supremacists will show up for the parade.

"We will be exercising our Second Amendment rights to bear arms," he said.

The city of Coeur d'Alene allows military veterans to march with firearms in the annual 4th of July parade, Winkler said.

"The veterans carry guns," he said, "so what's good for them should be good for us."

Winkler said he plans to wear a holstered 9mm pistol and carry an AK-47 semiautomatic assault rifle.

Aryan founder Richard Butler, who has a concealed weapons permit, also will be wearing a sidearm, Winkler said.

"We have no intention of pointing our guns at anyone, and we have no intention of shooting anyone," Winkler said. "We just want to exercise our constitutional rights."

The Aryan Nations has a city-issued permit for July 7, but the specific route for the Saturday parade hasn't been set.

The permit says no firearms or other weapons are allowed.

The parade will coincide with the annual Aryan World Congress, which will be held at Farragut State Park. The former naval base, near Athol, Idaho, is where sailors were trained for World War II, when the United States was fighting the Nazis.

The Aryans got a state permit for that encampment after losing their compound as a result of a $6.3 million civil judgment.

Winkler said he and others who attend the encampment at Farragut also will have their guns there and intend to fire them at a designated shooting area in the park.

The Aryan Nations got a federal court ruling in 1999 allowing its members to march in Coeur d'Alene after the City Council denied a parade permit. The American Civil Liberties Union headed the legal fight and forced the city to pay the Aryans' legal costs.

A federal judge ruled that Coeur d'Alene couldn't deny parade permits to the Aryans or prevent them from marching down Sherman Avenue like other groups do.

Winkler said if police attempt to stop Aryans from marching with their firearms, the city of Coeur d'Alene could face another lawsuit.

"They will be taking the chance of falsely arresting us," Winkler said, "and if that happens we will ask the ACLU to back us in another lawsuit."

Police Lt. Donald Jiran, of the city's support services unit, said he has spoken twice with Winkler about the parade but was unaware of the marchers' plans to carry firearms.

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