An ambush that left two firefighters dead and another critically injured in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, is drawing heightened scrutiny after internet users pointed out a chilling connection to a controversial event that occurred exactly 24 years earlier, as reported by The New York Post.
The shooting took place Sunday on Canfield Mountain, just outside Coeur d’Alene, after a man allegedly started a fire and then opened fire on first responders arriving to battle the blaze.
Two firefighters were killed, and a third remains hospitalized. The gunman was later found dead near his weapon, according to law enforcement.
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The incident happened on June 30—the same date that, in 2001, the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department carried out a training exercise in which it deliberately burned down the former headquarters of the neo-Nazi Aryan Nations compound in nearby Hayden Lake, just seven miles away.
That compound had been owned by Aryan Nations leader Richard Butler.
The group was forced to relinquish the property after a successful lawsuit brought by Victoria Keenan, a Native American woman who was fired upon by Aryan Nations security guards while driving with her son. Butler was ordered to pay $6.3 million in damages, leading to the group’s financial collapse.
Following the court victory, Keenan purchased the compound for $95,000 before selling it to a local philanthropist. That individual donated it to the city for use in fire department training.
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The compound was set ablaze in a two-day exercise on June 28 and 29, 2001, with the final structure destroyed on June 30.
Now, internet users are speculating about whether the timing of Sunday’s ambush is a coincidence or a possible act of retribution linked to the fire department’s role in burning the Aryan Nations property.
“I do not think it is a coincidence that on this date in 2001, firefighters in Coeur d’Alene burned down the Aryan Nation founder’s compound,” one X user posted Sunday. “The tragic current events are unfolding nearby.”
I do not think it is a coincidence, that on this date in 2001 firefighters in Coeur d’Alene burned down the Aryan Nation founder’s compound in a training exercise after he lost the property in a federal bankruptcy sale. The tragic current events are unfolding nearby. pic.twitter.com/JuuGsouZlI
— John (repeat1968) Buss (@repeat1968) June 30, 2025
Another user speculated the attack could involve “Richard Butler ppl laying stake.”
Could also be Richard Butler ppl laying stake. His compound was close by.
— Rickity Spicket (@RSpicket) June 30, 2025
A third commented, “Despite being pushed out, they have returned in the last few years.”
Do none of you dumb fucks realize that Coeur d’Alene, Idaho is the home of the Aryan nation? Richard Butler made his base there, and despite being pushed out , they have returned in the last few years.
— KBDR Arbitrator (@KArbitrator) June 29, 2025
Authorities have not released the name of the shooter and have not indicated any motive. There is no official confirmation linking the ambush to political or ideological extremism.
The Aryan Nations, once headquartered in Hayden Lake, has been defunct since 2001. Richard Butler died in 2004. The site of the former compound is now a public park dedicated to peace.
The investigation into Sunday’s ambush remains ongoing.
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