APar 06/01 2045 Butler-Supremacists FORT SMITH, Ark. (AP) -- The head of north Idaho's Ary
APar 06/01 2045 Butler-Supremacists
FORT SMITH, Ark. (AP) -- The head of north Idaho's Aryan
Nations church is scheduled to appear before a U.S. magistrate
Wednesday to be arraigned on a federal sedition charge,
authorities said.
Richard Butler, 69, of Hayden Lake, Idaho, has been free on
$100,000 bond since he was released from jail on May 19.
He had been in custody since surrendering on April 24, two
days after the indictments were handed down against him and 14
other white supremacists nationwide.
Butler suffered a heart attack while in jail in Coeur d'Alene,
Idaho. He later was hospitalized and underwent two heart-related
surgeries, including a quadruple bypass on May 1. He was
released from the hospital on May 18.
Butler has refused to talk with reporters since his arrest.
He heads the group formally known as the Church of Jesus Christ
Christian (Aryan Nations).
U.S. Attorney Michael Fitzhugh said Monday that the government
will ask that Butler's bond remain at $100,000, pending trial.
Butler and the others indicted in April now are scheduled to
stand trial beginning July 6 on charges that they conspired to
overthrow the U.S. government. The trial is expected to be
postponed at least a few months.
The Justice Department has said it wants to prosecute all of
the defendants together.
Three of the 15 defendants are in custody in Denver, where
they also face federal civil rights charges in the 1985 machine
gun killing of Jewish talk-show host Alan Berg.
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