James von Brunn, the 88 year old man who opened deadly gun fire on D.C.’s Holocaust Museum yesterday, was a member of multiple anti-Semitic groups. During his time living in Hayden, Idaho, von Brunn became a member of Aryan Nations, run by the late Richard Butler. As our archives show, Butler was no one to be admired, and his opinion editorial published in the USA Today (pdf) in 1985 shows the true hate this man possessed.

The right to self-preservation for the individual, or of a racial nation composed of individuals, is an inalienable, fundamental right. Therefore, our white or Aryan nation has a right and is under an obligation to preserve itself and its members.

…

The “we the people” in the Constitution’s preamble were and are the Aryan or white race of people who became the lawful de jure citizens of this new national state for our race.

The views of Butler and the actions von Brunn show how easily hateful words can turn into deadly violence.