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Prodigy founder buys former Aryan Nations compound
Plans to rid Idaho of White Supremacists
Greg Carr, founder of ISP Prodigy, has stepped in to rid Idaho of white supremacists.
The dotcom millionaire has bought the site of the Aryan Nations compound near Hayden Lake in the wilds of Idaho, the New York Times reports.
The 20-acre site, which at one time had a "church" that sported a silver bust of Hitler and stained glass swastikas, and was protected by German shepherds, is to be transformed into an anti-racism centre.
The compound was started by Richard Butler, the self-proclaimed pastor of the Aryan Nations. He ran it for 28 years before a court ordered him to turn it over to a mother and son who were beaten by young Aryan Nations members on the property.
Carr said yesterday he had agreed to buy the compound, which was previously decorated with Nazi flags, for $250,000. But he does not plan to burn it to the ground as he first planned. With the agreement of state officials and the sellers, he wants to turn it into an education and conference centre for human rights issues.
"We're not just going to tear the place down and pretend it never happened and say, 'There, we've cleaned up our image as a state,'" Carr told The New York Times.
"We're going to leave it there and acknowledge that this kind of hatred still exists and that we'll battle against it."
Eighty two-year-old Butler still lives in the area, and has vowed to continue his Aryan Nations 'work'. ®
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