A celebration of human rights

COEUR d'ALENE - It's been a decade.

And the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations is celebrating the 10 years it has been since a $6.3 million jury verdict bankrupted the Aryan Nations in North Idaho.

A ceremony remembering the Sept. 7, 2000, decision will be held at noon on Tuesday, Sept. 7 this year at the Veterans Plaza at the Kootenai County Courthouse.

It will include a presentation to the task force of a black marble monument in the form of an open book designed by Julie Wood and donated by the Davinchi Stone Company of Post Falls. The open book is engraved with quotes about justice and pays tribute to the jury, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the task force, the attorneys for the victims in the civil suit and philanthropist Greg Carr.

Before the ceremony, it will be on display at the courthouse from Sept. 3-7.

"(The) board of directors is deeply appreciative to the Kootenai County commissioners for their willingness to expedite approval of our veterans plaza application so that the public would have advanced notice of the event," said Tony Stewart, KCTFHR secretary. "The Kootenai County Commissioners were very supportive and most helpful in making this anniversary happen."

The Southern Poverty Law Center and the KCTFHR helped victims Victoria and Jason Keenan win the $6.3 million in the civil trial that bankrupted the Aryan Nations and their leader Richard Butler.

Photographs surrounding the trial will also be on display, and comments from attorneys Norm Gissel and Ken Howard will be given.

It has been 10 years since the verdict, but 12 years since the incident that led the parties to the courtroom.

On July 1, 1998, Victoria Keenan and her son, Jason, were driving by the Aryan Nations compound when they were attacked by its security guards. The Keenans' car was hit by bullets and driven off a public highway. The guards threatened to kill the Keenans if they reported the incident.

Victoria Keenan contacted the task force, and two security guards were later arrested. They pleaded guilty to the crime and were sentenced to prison.

Following the verdict Butler and the Aryan Nations declared bankruptcy in federal court, and the Keenans were awarded its compound. The Keenans in turn sold the compound to human rights activists and Carr, who destroyed it, and created a Peace Park. He gave the park to the North Idaho College Foundation.

Information: 765-3932