JOHN DAY – The Blue Mountain Eagle will bring two experts to town to talk with the local community about the white-supremacist group Aryan Nations.

Attorney Norman Gissel and Tony Stewart, who were part of the civil rights team that won a judgment against Richard Butler’s Aryan Nations group in 2000, have agreed to come and speak in Grant County.

The date and location of the session has not yet been confirmed, but it will be soon, said Marissa Williams, Eagle publisher.

The two men speak frequently to communities about the history and tactics of the Aryan Nations, and the impact that neo-Nazi organizations can have on communities. They also will discuss ways the community can be proactive and position itself to resist the establishment of hate groups here.

The meeting is being scheduled to answer concerns sparked by this week’s visit to John Day by Paul R. Mullet, identified as the national leader of the Aryan Nations group based in Athol, Idaho. Mullet told the Blue Mountain Eagle that the group wants to buy a building or property to establish a compound in the John Day area and hold a national “Congress” for the group in 2011.

While it is not known how firm those plans are, editor Scotta Callister said the experience of other communities shows that “the worst thing we can do is take a wait-and-see attitude.”

“We don’t want to see a neo-Nazi group to get established and use their racist messages to negate all that’s positive about this area,” she said. “We decided to set up the meeting to help prepare the community to respond to this threat in ways that are both legal and safe.”