Klan comes to Export
by Daveen Rae Kurutz
February 22, 2012
Local officials are dismayed to learn that a meeting of the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan is planned for Saturday in Export.
According to its website, the KKK will host a meet-and-greet that includes a cross lighting and speakers in an undisclosed location in the borough. The website says the rally is a mandatory meeting for all Pennsylvania and Maryland members of the group.
Mayor Michael Calder said he had not heard about the rally as of Monday. He doesn't like the idea of the KKK being associated with his hometown.
"It's just ridiculous and an insult to common sense," Calder said.
Councilwoman Melanie Litz agrees. She hadn't heard about the rally and said she is curious what organization would rent their facility to the group.
She pointed out that the Export ZIP code is shared by other municipalities, such as Murrysville and Penn Township.
"We don't encourage this, and we won't be attending," Litz said. "That's not something people should associate with Export."
This isn't the first time the KKK has been linked to Export. In November, several homemade KKK-recruiting placards were posted on telephone poles and on the exteriors of business windows.
The KKK has been meeting privately in Export for several years, said Chris Barker, the imperial wizard for the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. He called Saturday's meeting a "white unity gathering" that will include members from Pennsylvania, Ohio and Maryland.
"(We're not) going out into the street to cause trouble," Barker said in a phone interview. "There's a lot of black on white crime in Pennsylvania. A lot of people are calling us left and right, very concerned with what's going on there in Pennsylvania."
Barker said KKK membership in the state has spiked during recent years and that the Klan is becoming more active in both eastern and western Pennsylvania.
"We're trying to change how Northerners look at us," said Barker, who is from North Carolina. "We're not afraid for people to know who we are. We are the Ku Klux Klan and (we're not going anywhere)."
On the website, the group claims it isn't a hate group. Instead, it states that "We do not hate any group of people. However, we do hate some things that certain groups are doing to our race and Nation. We hate drugs, homosexuality, abortion and race-mixing because these things go against God's law and they are destroying all white nations."
It isn't common for a group such as the KKK to hold a rally so close to an urban area such as Pittsburgh, said Nina Sundell, the regional director for Western Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia of the Anti-Defamation League. Sundell said the KKK holds rallies for different reasons, and the location depends on its motive.
"One is they want attention. They want people to know they are there," Sundell said. "(Second,) they can be trying to intimidate communities. Third, it's a recruitment strategy, especially in larger areas."
The Constitution protects the right to assemble and freedom of speech. State police, which provide police protection in Export, have to find a balance between protecting those constitutional rights and protecting the people the KKK are assembling against, said Trooper Steve Limani.
Litz said she understands the difficulty for police.
"They have the right to assemble," Litz said. "But that doesn't mean we have to support it."
Sundell suggested that Export residents not attend the rally, particularly if they want to provoke the KKK. Instead, the community should come together to show that their beliefs are different than the Klan's.
"(Borough residents) want to show that they are an inclusive and safe environment for all of their residents," Sundell said. "By remaining silent, you're acting as a bystander. It's really important that the minorities and those that are being targeted in Export know that people want them in the community."
Live link http://www.yourmurrysville.com/murrysvillestar/article/klan-comes-export
_____________________
UPDATE 2:00 p.m. Sun, Jan. 1, 2012
Occupy Charlotte issued a press release late-night on New Year's Eve regarding the groups' decisions regarding the flag burning that took place in their camp Friday and their communication process with the media. Here is an excerpt:
Occupy Charlotte was not aware of and did not agree to support the burning of two American flags. Two of the individuals involved have participated in Occupy Charlotte activities, and each has issued a statement that they were not acting on the behalf of Occupy Charlotte.In other Occupy Charlotte news, after Charlotte City Councilman Andy Dulin brought up the Ku Klux Klan on Facebook last week, CL reached out to North Carolina's Loyal White Knights of the KKK for comment. Chris Barker, the organization's imperial wizard, responded Saturday afternoon to discuss both Dulin's comments and Occupy Charlotte's flag burning incident.
Regarding Dulin's comments, Barker said, "I truly don't think he understands what the Klan stands for or what it even means." He went on to explain that the organization is "an American institution," "is really all about good, Christian people coming together to help each other," and that it's still against the races mixing and "immigrants taking jobs." He also said, "A lot of people need to get over what happened in the 60s and move on."
Regarding the flag burning that took place at Occupy Charlotte's campsite on Old City Hall's lawn, Barker said, "I don't think you should have the right to burn the American flag." He also said that if people don’t like America, they should move, going on to say that prospective Klan members must take an oath that includes a promise “to be patriotic towards veterans, the flag and the country.”
Listen to the N.C. KKK's voice mail greeting here, which offers more insight into what the group stands for today.
CL shared Barkers' comments with both Jason Bargert, who was arrested after setting fire to American flags Friday morning, and Occupy Charlotte, via Laurel Green of the organization's "internet and media working group," and requested a comment in response.
According to an ongoing debate on one of Occupy Charlotte's Facebook group pages, Bargert and one other occupier have reportedly been exiled from the camp over the flag burning incident.
Done by Rhiannon Fionn
Live link to The Clog and updates http://clclt.com/theclog/archives/2011/12/30/occupy-charlotte-splits-up-following-flag-burning-incident-at-campsite
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why The Klan Is Targeting Philly Area
Updated: Friday, 16 Sep 2011, 9:27 AM EDT
Published : Friday, 16 Sep 2011, 9:27 AM EDT
The Klu Klux Klan is making a big push to add members in the Philadelphia area and Delaware. And it’s using the economy as a recruiting tool.
Our Claudia Gomez spoke with Pennsylvania Klan leader Ben Johnson, who says the Klan has changed and isn’t violent. We also spoke with a man called “John” who leads the New Castle branch of the Klan.
Both men credit the bad economy with their resurgence.
But Johnson still espouses some traditional Klan values.
“The Jews are running our country. The blacks have a ghetto in every city in the country. Noboby can deny that,” he said. “I’m not going to go out and burn churches, and go out and hand somebody … we want to try to do it politically.”
Johnson said the Klan’s goals are to become a family-oriented group and a political group.
In Delaware, the focus is on Latino immigrants.
“So people watch football games, I put up flyers,” said a Klan leader named “John” in Newport, Del.
He doesn’t put up crosses, though. “That was a totally different era.”
Johnson says he is stocking up on ammo just in case.
Barry Morrison from the Anti-Defamation League says the danger is the Klan is inspiring imitators who might be much more violent.
Morrison said the Klan is divided across the country and it doesn’t see sign of a local resurgence.
But two leaders she spoke with on Thursday say their numbers are growing.
"We have members in Philadelphia, members in Reading, members in Allentown, members in Royersford, we have members in Scranton, members in Wilkes-Barre. We have members in the western part of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Harrisburg, Dillsburg, York Pennsylvania. So I'm proud to say yeah, we are growing,” said Johnson.
Live Link http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/news/local_news/why-the-klan-is-targeting-philly-area-091611
KKK Plans Private Rally This Weekend
WAJR FM Radio
The Morning Edition 09/14/2011
The Rebel Brigade Knights of the Ku Klux Klan are planning a rally in Harrison County this weekend.
The Rebel Brigade has members in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania.
Imperial Klaliff Chris Barker told WAJR-FM’s Morning Edition Wednesday the group has a growing West Virginia chapter.
Saturday's rally, which is expected to draw 150 people, will be private and held at an undisclosed located. Barker is stressing that they will not be holding any public demonstrations yet.
However, he says the West Virginia chapter plans to be more active and future demonstrations are in the works.
Live Link http://www.wvmetronews.com/news.cfm?func=displayfullstory&storyid=47828
NAACP Reacts To Fox 29’s Klan Story
Updated: Friday, 09 Sep 2011, 6:12 PM EDT
Published : Friday, 09 Sep 2011, 6:12 PM EDT
What does the NAACP have to say about an apparent Klu Klux Klan recruiting push in the Philadelphia and Delaware areas?
Fox 29's Claudia Gomez broke this story, and spoke with the NAACP on Friday, a day after speaking with a Klan leader.
The NAACP is not surprised the KKK still exists in New Castle County. But they are surprised at how the Klan appears to be growing in predominantly white neighborhoods like Newport.
The Rebel Knights Of The Ku Klux Klan insist they're a peaceful bunch.
"The Klan has been trying to tone down its image, more Christian, and that's exactly what we are, a christian organization. We're out for white unity, we ain't in for no violence,” says Rebel Knights leader Chris Barker.
Fox 29 talked to Barker, the leader overseeing the Delaware movement by phone. He says the Klan is actively recruiting new members in New Castle Count, by leaving messages outside homes in mostly white neighborhoods.
"We're continuing, and pretty much throughout this year we're going to hit even harder actually through Delaware and Pennsylvania."
"We feel we have to step up our game, as they recruit in the Klan more members, we recruit more members in the Naacp,” says Lance Bruce, the NAACP spokesman in Delaware.
the problems may be growing. Earlier this week, police say two teens left this cross marked with the n-word outside the home of an African-American family in Newark.
Police insist it's an isolated incident. But the NAACP isn't convinced, and intends to push back against the Klan's apparent resurgence.
"if we have to take to the streets with marches, if we have to boycott certain businesses that support them, and put an additional heat on law enforcement and the criminal justice system.,” Bruce says.
It could turn out to be a busy time for the civil rights organization. The Klan told Fox 29 it's going to buy land in New Castle County to build a compound, where members can stage cross burnings.
"We're not going to be intimidated, and we're not going to change lifestyles in new castle county or in the state of Delaware because of a handful of hateful people, we're just not going to do that,” said Jea P. Street, New Castle County Councilman.
Live link and Watch
http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/news/local_news/naacp-reacts-to-fox-29’s-klan-story-090911
Updated: Thursday, 08 Sep 2011, 6:00 PM EDT
Published : Thursday, 08 Sep 2011, 5:43 PM EDT
In a follow-up to a story Fox 29 broke on Wednesday, the Ku Klux Klan may be trying to recruit new members in Philadelphia as well as Delaware.
According to the latest Census data, about 62 percent of Philadelphia's population is Black, Latino or Asian.
Fox 29’s Claudia Gomez talked to one of the top leaders in the Ku Klux Klan on Thursday. She spoke to Chris Barker by phone and he's the number two guy in a faction of the KKK called the "Rebel Brigade, Knights Of The Ku Klux Klan."
Barker is based in North Carolina, and he says he oversees KKK operations in Delaware:
For the past several months, the Ku Klux Klan has been leaving a calling card outside homes in New Castle County, Delaware, hoping to find new members. The baggies include a couple of phone numbers. So we called, and eventually heard back from barker.
"We're going to start doing more stuff in Delaware. We're looking at now purchasing land out there for a compound they're going to have built out there. We'll start holding our annual meetings in Delaware and Maryland,” he said.
The Klan is hoping to buy that land just outside Wilmington, near the neighborhoods where it's been recruiting. Once the compound is built, the KKK is planning, "regular Klan rallies with the cross-lighting ritual and all that, will be held there."
Barker says the Klan's campaign to beef up membership in New Castle County is working.
"Way over 500 members out there, just in that one section … between Northern Delaware and the border of Pennsylvania, right through there,” Barker said.
We don't know if barker is exaggerating the numbers. But we do know another faction of the KKK is also trying to recruit in Philadelphia.
"Hello marc, this is Adam from your local Ku Klux Klan,” was a voice mail left for Fox 29 viewer Marc Eichler.
The caller intentionally distorted the sound of his voice, when he left this message on Eichler's cellphone.
"We'd like to find out how much you hate n-----s, and we're also trying to recruit for our annual drive, recruiting drive."
Eichler never called them back, "because I have no interest in joining the KKK."
"It's not the deep south, this area is so culturally diverse... And you just don't know what they would want in this area."
Fox 29 called the number left on Eichler's voicemail.
A man who identified himself as the national director told us there is no KKK phone campaign in Philadelphia.
And he doesn't know who left the message or why.
He also told us his group has no affiliation with the group operating in Delaware.
Link to Watch it live. http://www.myfoxphilly.com/dpp/news/local_news/klu-klux-klan-may-be-recruiting-in-philly-090811
Surrounded by the Nation's Capital, this is a view of the political happenings in Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, and points beyond.....
KKK Fliers In Somerset County
(WMDT) - Marion residents are on edge, after dozens of fliers promoting a Ku Klux Klan rally in Virginia, littered the Somerset County area. It has many demanding answers.
"It's 2011. It's very difficult to believe that these organizations still exist and recruit," said Lieutenant Kray Plunkert, Commander for the Maryland State Police Barrack in Princess Anne.
"I thought the KKK was just history, but its like anything else, some bad blood and certain people linger on and on," said President of the Somerset County NAACP.
The fliers read: "White People Only," and talk about plan to burn a cross. They were tossed on several properties including a church, a cemetery and even on lawns off the beaten path.
"Everybody back here is black, so I just wasn't understanding what their motivation could ever be. Was it just to inform us that they are here," said Marion resident, Terri Holbrook.
Police say because the solicitors littered, they did break a law. However, it is a law they say they usually wouldn't follow through with, being that unwanted mail falls on a number of residential properties all the time.
"In the nature and the way they are soliciting and passing out the fliers is not against the law," said Lt. Plunkert.
This isn't Marion's first run in with the KKK. Back in February, street signs were spray painted with racial slurs, which resulted in a number of arrests. But still there is fear among residents.
"We can't say what they won't do, but I would like somebody to nip it in the bud, before they can do anything," said Holbrook.
Maryland State Police say they will not tolerate this, and are being proactive. They say they have increased patrols in the area, and plan to continue investigating this matter. Anyone who sees signs of hatred, or if they know information should call police.
Link to see this live. http://rightcoastconservative.blogspot.com/2011/06/kkk-fliers-in-somerset-county.html
Part 1: Resurgence of the KKK Posted:May 19, 2011 2:02 PM EDT
Reporter: David Tate
Henry Co., VA - Since 2001, the number of hate groups across the country has nearly doubled. The Southern Poverty Law Center says for the first time since they've been tracking these groups, the number is now more than 1,000.
One in particular, the Ku Klux Klan, has factions that are making southside Virginia their epicenter.
"The property [was] left to us in their will in order for us to keep the meetings going on. So we're not going anywhere," said local Klan leader Stan Martin.
Since the 70s, the KKK has been suffering through splits from within its ranks that, 40 years later, is evolving into two general directions: one that adheres to the hatred and fear mongering of days gone by, and one that maintains white separatism but is now focused on the reason for their racial bias - the federal government.
"I did not get involved with the Ku Klux Klan because I hate people. I got involved with the Ku Klux Klan because of what they are doing to my country," said Dennis LeBonte of Powhatan.
And over the past few years, that second group has been taking full-advantage of a membership that goes back generations and across state lines, exploiting discontent fueled by issues like equal rights for homosexuals, taking God out of schools and immigration.
"The whole anti-immigration issue. Also, we still have... every time there's been a significant advance by African-Americans in this country there has been a resurgence of the Klan," said Dr. Wornie Reed who leads Virginia Tech's Center For Social Justice.
Groups like Rebel Brigade Knights of the Ku Klux Klan which claims Martinsville as its headquarters.
On a day in early April they organized nearly 100 Klansman, from a half dozen states, to assemble on the steps of the old Patrick County Courthouse.
"Ladies and gentleman of this county the Ku Klux Klan is here to stay. We're here to fight for what other people want. You want peace? I want peace, but I want peace for my race," shouted Bradley Jenkins to a small crowd.
Some locals were among the Klan, but most of those that stopped to watch, seemed more stunned than anything.
In 2011, KKK rallies will be held in Patrick County, Eden, Max Meadows, and Dunagan.
But no one place will hold as many rallies as are being held in Henry County, in a field hidden by trees, behind a rebel flag. There, nearly a half dozen cross-lightings are planned this year - expected to draw Klansman from much of the country.
On Friday in part 2 of Resurgence of the KKK, David Tate will go inside that compound for a closer look at what goes on, and we'll also talk to that county's sheriff to get his take on this suddenly overt display of what is also known as the "invisible empire."
click the link to watch and see the live report.
http://www.wset.com/story/14678366/part-1-resurgence-of-the-kkk
Part 2: Resurgence of the KKK Posted:May 20, 2011 6:00 PM EDT
Reporter: David Tate
Henry Co., VA - According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, hate groups in America have nearly doubled- to more than 1,000- over the past decade.
It is all a part of a massive surge in radical-right wing groups that are known as "Patriot Groups," accounting for more than 60 percent of the hate group growth over the past decade.
While some would argue the KKK is not a patriot group, it is at least the shape that group is looking to reform its image in and several factions are making southside Virginia their epicenter.
"We're not going anywhere,"said Stan Martin of the Rebel Brigade Knits of the KKK. "We just don't come out and try to create problems."
One day last month, Patrick County found itself in the middle of a hundred-strong Klan rally with Alabama Klansman Bradley Jenkins giving a rousing speech.
"I was a Klansman the day I was born and I'll be a Klansman until they put me into the ground. Can I hear an AMEN?"
And the message they brought was loud and clear.
"I want peace, but I want peace for my race!"
At race weekend in Martinsville last month, while you would have expected authorities to welcome all visitors, this year it wasn't the case.
"I don't condone hate groups in any form or fashion. I don't agree with their mentality and no, I don't want them in my jurisdiction," said Sheriff Lane Perry.
While many of Perry's men are pulling security at the race, he's in Henry County, keeping an eye on another gathering of the Klan.
"What we're finding out is that it's not really local people but people from North Carolina and other states coming up here because they have a very isolated area that's out of the way," said Perry.
Out of the way, a few miles from a place called Pleasant Grove in Henry County. Behind a confederate flag there is a meeting place for Klan members from all over the south.
Reporter David Tate was invited inside to watch a cross lighting, that was eventually canceled.While in this compound he met a number of members.
Most were from out of town and from all walks of life: a tattoo artist, a 72-year old grandmother, a man who says he lost his leg due to an infection caught in Afghanistan, and a long-serving mayor in Southwestern Virginia.
Stan Martin is from Henry County and leads the Rebel Brigade Knights of the KKK.
"We're growing in numbers... you wouldn't believe. People are being tired of being pushed to the side," said Martin.
His group, and affiliated Klans, are part of this resurgence, historically the fourth since the Klan was founded in 1865.
A resurgence, several members say is still based on separatism, but no longer on hate and terror.
"When push comes to shove, we're going to be there. Numbers don't intimidate us. By the same token, we are law abiding citizens and if anybody is not that, we don't want you," said Martin.
Their enemy seems to be the government.
"Our biggest enemy is the powers that be. The people sitting in Washington. That is our enemy," said Dennis LeBonte, a Klansman from Powhatan.
They say they are the white people's NAACP that wants to see an end to illegal immigration and gay rights while putting God back in the schools.
Bishop E.M. Mitchell, who heads up Roanoke's chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, doesn't' believe the Klan can change.
"They can only be different when they realize that we are all made from the same God. That all men are the same. He does not deal with color; black or white or whatever, and until that gets in their (the KKK) heart they'll stay where they are," Mitchell said.
Virginia Tech's Director of Social Justice, Dr. Wornie Reed, agrees.
"They can't be the Klan unless they hold some of the principles that the Klan has always held and the Klan has always held principles that were kind of anti-democratic... that is anti-democratic for anybody other than whites," said Reed.
"They've gotta go farther than that. We either going to live in this world together or we're going to die in it together," added Mitchell.
Virginia lawmakers condemn KKK rally
By Christina Wilkie - 04/02/11 11:48 AM ET
Members of Virginia’s congressional delegation on Friday widely condemned a planned Saturday rally by the Ku Klux Klan in Martinsville, a city of 15,000 on the state’s southern border.
The rally comes on the same day that millions of Americans will be watching Virginia Commonwealth University’s basketball team compete in the Final Four tournament.
Organized by a group called Virgil’s White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, the gathering will take place in the district represented by freshman Rep. Robert Hurt (R).
"Robert believes that racism has absolutely no place in our society," a spokeswoman for Hurt told The Hill. The spokeswoman also confirmed that the congressman plans to spend Saturday in Buckingham County, located on the opposite side of the district from Martinsville.
Rep. Morgan Griffith (R), whose district borders Martinsville to the west, defended the KKK’s constitutional right to free speech, but he condemned the rally as "an act of hatred."
"The Constitution guarantees free speech even if we find the actions and the speech deplorable. Acts of hatred divide us, not unite us," Griffith said.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) were unavailable for comment because they were traveling. Both had indicated they would be attending Saturday’s Final Four match-up in Houston.
Among those lawmakers with the strongest reactions was Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.), who told The Hill, "All men are created equal. There is no place for any type of racism or hatred in our country and I adamantly condemn any group practicing bigotry against humanity."
A spokeswoman for Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) said he "finds the policies, opinions and actions of the Ku Klux Klan to be completely reprehensible."
A similar note was struck by Rep. Frank Wolf’s (R-Va.) spokesman, who said the lawmaker "is strongly opposed to the KKK."
Among those members who declined to comment, some cited the fact that the event was being held outside their districts. Reps. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) and Scott Rigell (R-Va.) were unavailable for comment at press time due to scheduling conflicts.
Spokespersons from the offices of the state's two Democratic senators declined comment.
According to a YouTube video posted on the group’s website, plans for the rally had been in place since January. But the news seemed to come as a surprise on Capitol Hill.
The video shows a man in a white hooded costume saying that the rally will include "a cross lighting at dark," and that "vendors will be selling white power t-shirts, flags, patches, CD’s, and all other white power items."
The identity of the man in the hood was unclear, and phone calls and emails to the group went unanswered Friday. In a voicemail greeting, the group claims to be the most active branch of the KKK in America.
It was not immediately clear how many people were expected at the rally, but in photos from a Virginia rally held by the group last year, The Hill counted a few dozen individuals, although the group claims that many more attended than are photographed.
A spokeswoman for the Martinsville Police Department said the police force will have "adequate manpower" in place.
