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SEPTEMBER 1, 2000

The civil rights suit filed against the Aryan Nations continued as a former guard testified he couldn't remember shooting at a part-Native family, but that he did write a threatening letter to them.

Jesse Warfield said he wasn't a member of the group when he attacked two members of the Keenan family with an assault rifle. He also said he was drunk and didn't remember shooting at their car.

Warfield also testified that he wrote a letter to Victoria Keenan, saying she should be careful if she and her son, Jason, went ahead and sued Aryan Nations founder Richard Butler.

The civil suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages against Butler for assault, false imprisonment, and emotional distress. They allege Butler ordered the attack on them and is responsible for the conduct of Warfield and two other former members of the Aryan Nations.

Butler says the men acted on their own. He said the case should be based on the evidence, not on the belief system of his group.

Get the Story:
Aryan mailed a threat (The Spokesman Review 9/1)
Aryan Nations guards say assault wasn't ordered by group's founder (AP 8/31)