1997-06-02 White Separatist Group Adds Members in Reno Area

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White Separatist Group Adds Members in Reno Area

Las Vegas Review-Journal
June 02, 1997

Reno -- A white separatist group claims a membership drive has netted up to several dozen new members in the Reno area.

But Leonard Weinberg, a University of Nevada, Reno political science professor, accused the  Church of the Creator of inflating membership figures to make it seem more successful.

"I'd say they might have a dozen or even fewer members in the area," he told the Daily Sparks Tribune.

Local group leader Myles Munter, 22, of Reno said he was encouraged by church leaders in Auburn, Calif., to begin recruiting new members in the Reno area about six months ago.

The group has placed fliers on car windshields, especially on and near the University of Nevada, Reno campus.

"We've been dealing with the youth, especially with people of college age," said Munter, a forklift operator. "You're never too young to be proud of your people.

"We're about the best thing for our race. We encourage the sanctity of the white family."

The church was created in 1973 by Ben Klassen of Florida, who was state chairman of Alabama Gov. George Wallace's 1968 presidential campaign. Klassen, who hailed Adolf Hitler as the greatest white leader ever, committed suicide in 1993.

Barbara Bergen, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League's San Francisco office, said she has watched with concern as church leaders have stepped up their activity in the Reno area.

"I'm very unhappy about their recent recruitment drive," she said. "They have a real propensity for violence ... We really need to keep an eye on them."

Bergen's organization has linked group members to at least one murder and two hate crime conspiracies.

Church member Nick Houston, 17, a local construction worker, said members are continually harassed by police wherever they go.

"They treat us like ex-cons out on parole," he said. "They don't want us to speak our minds. They want us to shut up."