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📰 Above the fold
Yesterday’s story about an Arizona Christian nationalist pastor bankrolling an Ogden city council candidate echoes a Utah episode from nearly 40 years ago: a follower of the Idaho‑based Aryan Nations tried to recruit here via a radio call‑in show.
In the summer of 1987, Dwight McCarthy started a weekly Saturday morning call-in show called the “Counter-Marxist Hour” on KZZI in West Jordan. In December, he rebranded it as the “Aryan Nations Hour,” to align with the group’s ideology and be a recruiting tool.
The rebrand came shortly after two neo‑Nazis were convicted in the murder of Jewish Denver talk‑show host Alan Berg.
McCarthy, who paid the station $100 weekly for his own airtime, said the program would be used to relay messages from the Aryan Nations group, based in Idaho, to listeners. McCarthy said he had been a member of the white supremacist group for about five years before deciding to “come out of the closet” and embrace the organization publicly.
“I think, quite frankly, that there’s more fertile ground here (Utah) than people think,” McCarthy said then.
On his first show, McCarthy hosted Rev. Richard Butler, the head of the Church of Christ Christian, Aryan Nations. The program was flooded with angry calls.
The second show featured guests from a Black nationalist group advocating a separate homeland funded by “reparations” and a white separatist pushing repeal of the 14th Amendment.
There was no third show. Protests and an advertiser boycott forced KZZI to pull it.
The radio station’s owner said he had lost “virtually all” of his advertisers because of the show. He said he opposed McCarthy’s beliefs but sold the time on free‑speech grounds.
McCarthy blamed a “liberal Marxist‑homosexual‑Zionist coalition” for the cancellation.
After his show was canceled, McCarthy left the Aryan Nations and formed his own white-separatist church called “The Church of Christian Israel,” and announced plans to open a reading room in South Salt Lake where he planned to teach Sunday school.
Friday morning's Utah headlines
SNAP recipients worried Utah may not be prepared for November suspensions. [Fox 13]
Utah leaders join partisan blame game over halted SNAP benefits in food bank bid announcement. [Salt Lake Tribune]
Utah commits $4 million in resources to local food banks as shutdown continues. [Fox 13]
Forceful arrest of immigrant at Salt Lake City airport sparks consternation among city leaders. [KSL]
Utah Gov. Cox says homeless campus–envisioned to fulfill Trump's order–is a "top priority." [Utah News Dispatch]
Utah governor floats statewide zoning takeover as option to jump-start housing supply. [Deseret News]
Should Utah's Supreme Court justices be allowed to hear cases they've advocated for? [Salt Lake Tribune]
Davis County notifies residents of proposed nearly 30% property tax increase. [KSL]
Utah State University welcomes a new president–Brad Mortensen. [Deseret News]
Deadline closing in for Utah and 6 other states hammering out a new water plan. [Utah News Dispatch]
Utah wildfire damage grows as single state investigator handles rising human-caused cases. [KUTV]