The KKK and Ferguson

Domestic terrorism is not new in the United States. Following the Emancipation Proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 freeing the enslaved Africans, and then the end of the Civil War and the beginning of Reconstruction in 1865, the notorious hate group, the Ku Klux Klan, was formed that same year. Since then, the KKK movement in the U.S. has been active in both the South and the North.

The KKK is a white supremacist group with thousands of members. For a century, they were distinguished by their white hoods, robes and masks, and freely roamed the country. Members of the group included sheriffs, judges and elected officials. The KKK movement has terrorized African Americans with threats, arson, bombings, violence and murders.

In the wake of white cop Darren Wilson’s killing of Black unarmed teen Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., Klansmen have been active in showing their true colors. In a Nov. 21 Hatewatch blog managed by the Intelligence Project of the Southern Poverty Law Center civil rights organization, Don Terry wrote a piece entitled, “As Ferguson, Mo., Waits on Word from Grand Jury, So Does the Klan.”

The blog states, “If you ask the Ku Klux Klan, a gut wrenching racially charged American tragedy should never go to waste.”  It further states that Klansmen have repeatedly tried to exploit and inject themselves into the middle of the sad saga of the death of Michael Brown. And they are trying to throw gasoline on the tensions in Ferguson.

The Klan has raised money for Wilson and has vowed to come to the Ferguson area to protect “white businesses” with guns. It has also threatened to use “lethal force” against protesters in the St. Louis suburb. The hate group has hailed Wilson as a hero for shooting Brown and says, “We need more white cops.”

The KKK declared in a flier: “We will not sit by and allow you to harm our families, communities, property nor disrupt our daily lives. You have been warned by the Ku Klux Klan. There will be consequences of your actions against the peaceful, law abiding citizens of Missouri.” The threats have been veiled in the talk of self-defense, the blog stated.