Orwoll characterized the policy as “free association,” not segregation. On its website, Return to the Land describes itself a “private membership association (PMA) for individuals and families with traditional views and common continental ancestry.”
Walker’s attorney, Reed Colfax, argued RTTL is a racist organization in violation of federal anti-discrimination laws dating back to 1866.
“Return to the Land’s actions constitute blatant and brazen violations of long-standing federal and state fair housing laws,” Reed Colfax said in a statement posted on the Legal Defense Fund website. “Ms. Walker has been deprived of her housing and civil rights, including the right to purchase land and build housing.”
Walker, a real estate broker in and around St. Louis, Missouri, said in the complaint she learned last summer that the group was selling land in the Ozarks, “an area where she occasionally vacationed.” She was drawn to the listing partly because the asking price was unusually low, and she decided to apply, citing both the investment potential and other possibilities the land offered.
During the application process, Walker said she encountered “a series of questions about her ancestry and religion.” She disclosed that her father’s family had arrived in the United States in the 1600s and that her mother’s family were Russian Jewish immigrants. She noted that her husband is of Irish and African descent and that her children shared their parents’ mixed racial heritage.
In response to a question about her religion, Walker stated flatly: “I am a Christian. I believe Jesus died for my sins and through believing in him, I will have a heavenly eternal life.”
In the complaint, Walker said that she “was surprised to see the ancestry and religion questions on the application, which she understood as clearly violating federal and state fair housing laws prohibiting consideration of race and religion in a land-sale decision.”
Walker said she recognized the ancestry and religion questions as apparent violations of federal and state fair housing laws, but completed the application anyway, hoping the organization would ultimately comply with the law. She was later interviewed by an RTTL member who asked whether she belonged to “any other white nationalist organizations.”
After a month passed without word, Walker called the RTTL and was told “she should not expect her application to be approved.”
“Ms. Walker never received any further communication from Defendants,” the complaint states. Her application portal now reads that she was not accepted because she was “not an ideal fit” for the community.
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