Hayden, Idaho has gotten a bad rap over the years due to a few bad apples. The name of the town has become synonymous with Richard Butler and the Aryan Nations, a hate filled white supremacist group that made it’s home a few miles north of the City. But in 1998, the people of Hayden overwhelmingly rejected hate and forced the Aryan Nations out of town.

The story is a fascinating one and is a true testament to North Idaho’s commitment to inclusivity. In 1998 Victoria Keenan and her son were driving by the Aryan Nations compound in Hayden, ID when her car backfired. Aryan Nations guards pounced, shooting at Victoria’s car and holding her at gun point. Victoria won a $6.3 Million dollar judgment for the incident. In order to pay this judgment, Richard Butler and the Aryan Nations were forced to forfeit their compound to Keenan. Keenan sold the property to philanthropist Greg Carr who donated it to the North Idaho College Foundation. The foundation planned to make a peace park, but this never materialized and today the property is up for sale.

The people of Hayden are proud of this victory against hate, and today they are proud again. Hayden residents overwhelmingly rejected another attempt at a Neo-Nazi takeover on November 5, 2019 when a man named Wolfinger (German: Vulf – Finger) attempted to infiltrate 4 members of his brown shirt gang into the City of Hayden. Wolfinger’s brown shirts are representative of Hitler’s Sturmabteilung, A Nazi paramilitary group charged with providing security at Nazi rallies.

Wolfinger’s Sturmabteilung, or Storm Detachment, have been known to lock children in cages, kill the mentally ill, and viciously attack unarmed restrained people with dogs. It appears that the Sturmabteilung has even infiltrated churches and schools.  But the people of Hayden have said enough is enough. “We’ve fought the Nazis once and we will fight them again,” one Hayden resident said. “Love is welcome in this town and Wolfinger’s all white gang of gun toting, brown shirt wearing thugs can take their message of hate somewhere else.”

Not everyone agreed though, one lifelong Hayden resident with a “Hate” tatoo on the back of is head was longing for the good old days. “I’m disappointed that Wolfinger and the Sturmabteilung were rejected by the people of Hayden. They’re not a hate group. They’re simply western chauvinists who believe whites have created the greatest societies on earth. A lot like the KKK, Wolfinger’s brown shirts are a community service organization.”

We tracked down Wolfinger for an interview at his barbed wire compound near the Kootenai County Fairgrounds. Ironically, as we were pulling into the compound to meet Wolfinger, our car backfired. Immediately, two brown shirted men ran from the building and shot at our vehicle. We sped away from the scene and were forced to abandon our interview.

We did however catch up with the Mayor of Hayden, Idaho to get his reaction. “Much like in Nazi Germany, Wolfinger sold his services as a safety measure for the community. He promised a return to the good old days of safety, economic prosperity, and Caucasian grandmas making apple pie. After seeing Hayden voters reject Wolfinger, excuse me Vulf-Finger, I now understand that his motives were more sinister. You know he actually had the gall to try and get 22 brown shirts into the City of Hayden? I’m so glad I’ve woken up to his hate filled plan before we sent Hayden back to the Richard Butler days.”

A call into a real estate broker familiar with the former Aryan Nations property confirmed that the Sellers have received an offer on the property from a man named “Wolfinger” and a group called “KCSO.” The Broker said, “they would like to use it to create, ‘New-Germania,’ whatever that is.” A follow up with the Kootenai County Planning Commission has confirmed that architectural plans for a development have been submitted for review. A public records request for the plans produced these images: