Bo Gritz Under Attack From Idaho Human-Rights Group

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho - Populist Party presidential candidate Bo Gritz, who was in the spotlight recently for helping end a northern Idaho standoff, has come under attack from a human rights group.

The Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations accused Gritz on Thursday of giving a Nazi salute to white-supremacist "skinheads" gathered at the standoff between fugitive Randy Weaver and U.S. marshals at Weaver's remote mountain cabin.

The task force also claimed that Gritz, a highly decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, has compared skinheads to young Marines and once shared a political ticket with former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke.

"His connections are questionable," said Russell Wright, a member of North Idaho College's Human Equality Club.

Gritz's campaign staff rebutted the accusations.

Gritz "has a deep dislike for Nazis," Charlie Brown, national chairman for the America First Coalition, said.

Gritz's father, a World War II pilot, was killed by Nazis, Brown said.

"You could stick a branding iron on him and he wouldn't do anything Nazi," Brown said.

He said that when Gritz agreed to become a vice presidential candidate in 1988, he expected a different candidate to get the presidential nomination and dropped off the ticket once Duke was nominated.

Brown denied that Gritz gave a Nazi salute to skinheads at the standoff, and praised the candidate for his leadership at the scene.

On Thursday, the task force showed pictures of Gritz giving what appeared to be a Nazi salute at the standoff.

Lonny Hall, northwest regional representative for the Gritz campaign, said Gritz promised Weaver he would give the salute on his behalf.