December 12, 2019 03:06 PM UTC

Radio Station's Ties to Hate Groups Look Ironic in Light of Hosts' Tragedies

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• by: Jason Salzman

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

Denver’s KNUS 710-AM management isn’t saying whether the radio station will air a new show hosted by the Colorado Proud Boys, a designated hate group, as reported by 9News’ Jeremy Jojola.

But Louie Huey, one of the Proud Boys behind the show, appeared as a featured guest on KNUS as recently as Oct. 26.

The Proud Boys have been labeled hate groups by the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center, two organizations that track such groups.

But Huey, who identifies as Hispanic, claims he’s not part of a hate group. He did not return an email from my colleague Erik Maulbetsch seeking comment.

White supremacist and other hate groups are on the rise in Colorado, with increasing ties to Republicans and others in the state.

The presence of a hate group on KNUS would be tragically ironic, given that KNUS morning show anchor Peter Boyles regularly touts the legacy of Denver talk radio pioneer Alan Berg and the close friendship and professional association they shared before the evening of June 18, 1984 when Berg was assassinated in his driveway.  Berg was shot with a MAC-10 submachine 12-13 times in the face and body by a hit squad of 4 members of The Order, a white supremacist group that operated in the Pacific Northwest.

Another KNUS host, Randy Corporon, was a also victim of neo-Nazi violence. On April 13, 2014, Corporon’s 69-year-old cousin, Dr. William Lewis Corporon, along with Reat Griffin Underwood, Dr. Corporon’s 14-year-old grandson, were murdered in a hate crime at the Overland Park Jewish Community Center in Kansas City.  The shooter was a 73-year-old Klansman, neo-Nazi and former political candidate named Frazier Glenn Miller, Jr.

Corporon didn’t return a call seeking to know whether he had qualms about having Huey on his show and if he was opposed to having the Major League Liberty show co-hosted by a Proud Boy aired on KNUS.

KNUS faced scrutiny this week when producer Kirk Widlund was accused of posting neo-Nazi messages on the Russian social media site VK. One of Widland’s posts stated that Widlund believes the U.S. fought on the wrong side in WWII — as an ally of Communists, socialists, and Zionists, which is ironic since Widlund produces a show on KNUS which highlights American veterans, and has featured laudatory profiles of many WWII veterans.

But Widland says none of the VK posts under the “Kirk Widlund” profile were written by him, saying it is all a smear against him by Colorado Springs Anti-Fascists, the anonymous group that first posted the “Kirk Widlund” material.

Questions about KNUS’ ties to white nationalists were also raised due to its association with Michelle Malkin, a Colorado-based conservative activist who has partnered with KNUS in hosting rallies and counter-protests against immigrants rights groups. Malkin has been disavowed by groups due to her associations with known white nationalist individuals and groups. She also wrote a book defending the racial profiling and the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII.

Logan Schwarz, Huey’s partner on their Major League Liberty show, announced that the show would be moving to KNUS in a Facebook broadcast (at 4 minutes).