Update 18:30 CST: In my original report, I cited Facebook friends who said they had found copies of the white-supremacist propaganda sheet The Stampede in Cenex stores in Belle Fourche and Philip. I spoke with a spokesperson for the communications and marketing division at CHS, which oversees the Cenex brand. CHS notes that the Philip store is no longer Cenex branded but owned by a CHS affiliate. CHS checked with the general manager and the store manager at each site, and those managers say The Stampede has never been displayed at their stores. CHS also checked all available Stampedes online to verify that no Cenex store has advertised in Rudy Stanko’s publication. I have edited the below text to make clear that Cenex should not be implicated in the distribution of this white-supremacist, anti-semitic material.
Update 19:05 CST: CHS provides this statement:
At CHS we take our company values and our commitment to being responsible stewards of the community very seriously and do not condone or support hateful speech of any kind. We have investigated this matter and have confirmed that neither of the retail locations mentioned in the article handle or distribute the publication in question. As a corporation, we have not participated in any form of advertising with the publisher [CHS, statement to Dakota Free Press, 2017.03.20].
Edited Original Post:
Some Facebook friends noticed some West River stores displaying the following white-supremacist, anti-semitic publication:
The Stampede is produced by Rudy “Butch” Stanko of Gordon, Nebraska. His website archives a few dozen similar screeds going back to September 2, 2015. Stanko regularly peddles myths like the kosher tax, the peaceful intentions of Hitler, Jewish control of meatpacking and global finance, the Mossad’s responsibility for 9/11, and the assertion that the 14th Amendment and Reconstruction achieved “the Marxist Communist takeover of these States.”
Friends report this white-supremacist disinformation in Hot Springs, Caputa, Whitewood, Belle Fourche and Philip. Perhaps more alarmingly, Stanko appears to receive financial support from some South Dakota businesses who advertise in Stanko’s rag. The Philip, Belle Fourche, and St. Onge livestock yards appear as sponsors in the online PDF of March 13 Stampede:
Stanko has served time for felony conspiracy for selling tainted meat to the federal school lunch program, illegal possession of firearms, and most recently for violating his prison release conditions.
I won’t put anyone in jail for spreading racist, anti-semitic propaganda. But I’ll have a conversation with any shopkeeper who displays Stanko’s white-supremacist propaganda about how that makes their business look. And if I had cattle to sell, I’d ask the sale yard managers at Philip, Belle Fourche, and St. Onge just how much of my fees will go toward spreading Stanko’s lies.
Looks like a guy who would be a Trump voter, if he could vote. Do you suppose he voted illegally for Trump? Somebody should check on that.
His rag? Fake news!!!
Trump voter, Ror? Stanko isn’t quite that simple. In his first publication after the election, Stanko republisahed this white-supremacist diatribe from one Kyle Hunt (and it grosses me out to quote this guy, but for the record), “Trump is the best way for the jewish elite to hold onto power without ‘right wing’ (White) resistance, manage a financial meltdown, crack down on dissidents at home with militarized police and a restricted internet, and wage more wars for Israel. He will do all these things, and more, if we let him…. Trump is now taking over the throne of the enemy’s empire. He is not your friend, though he might speak our language from time to time. We need to work from the assumption that Donald Trump is a traitor, just like every other high-level politician.”
But fake news? Disinformation? Propaganda? Yes, most definitely.
Now, why would any civic-minded business want to have its name associated with such falsehoods?
Maybe ask the cattle sellers there as well what they think of the white supremacist crap they are paying for in commissions to these haters. Might surprise some of them, but maybe not as they probably feel the same towards Indians as they do towards Jews, Muslims, gays and damned near anyone that they think they are superior too. I wonder what failure in his life caused his fear?
http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/local/communities/sturgis/rambow-meade-county-and-the-black-hills-had-strong-kkk/article_55b9ba09-5156-5a91-9789-c906063f49eb.html
Very interesting and fascinating link about SD history, leslie – thanks!
They also carry it at the gas station in New Underwood.
Thank you Leslie for link and CH for article
So…..buying sd beef, cattle, maybe supporting him and we don’t even realize it (before this article) if you have done business with the sale barns but what’s concerning is I have been to belle fouche and I don’t think some people don’t view this is as socially unacceptable …..i would like to know what bank is involved with the sale barns……
Thanks for the link Leslie, my grandparents had homes near Spirit Mound, north of Vermillion in rural Clay County. As a child I began hearing stories of the cross burning activities during the 1920’s and 1930’s held atop . Few farms had tree groves and no electric lights the burning activities were widely seen by the mostly immigrant and poorly educated farmers. There were several pockets of Irish Catholic farmers in the area who could witness the glows.
I remember hearing these stories until the last of my grandparents and their children died. During history classes at USD, these “burnings” were discussed, confirming what I had heard as a child.
Spirit Mound was not a place many of the locals wanted anything to do with because of the memories of those nights.
Rudy Stanko better watch his ass. Now that we all know who he is, people should learn to hate him more than he hates Jews.
Leave it to South Dakota’s livestock industry to financially support anti-Semitic fake news.
White-power, in South Dakota, appears to be rooted in our West River Ranching communities.
Why is that? What is it about ranching that lends itself to hating Jews?
Do we suppose ranchers widely vote stupid because for decades all the smart kids move off the ranch, and the only ones that stay home are the smallest minded loud mouthed idiot children – who couldn’t hack it in life any further than 20 feet off the farm?
I saw two trucks driving in downtown RC today – one was waving a big confederate flag and the other, right behind it, a big flag with a big machine gun on it.
Almost everyone’s had their head in sand about this crap the whole time I’ve lived here. Both the folks with the flag trucks and the VAST MAJORITY of y’all who stand quiet are just a big bunch of pussies.
Big flag with a machine gun? A U.S. flag? Good grief. Some people just don’t get it. Every country has machine guns. America’s unique strength is its values. let’s see some trucks driving around with flags with the Constitution on them.