News > Culture > The KKK Took My Handgun Away

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TUESDAY MARCH 21 2006 4:53 PM

The KKK Took My Handgun Away

Submitted by Rahodeb

Edited by Rahodeb

A splinter group of the KKKthat infamous American bastion of hateis in the news today with guilty pleas from six members who were charged with stealing and selling guns in a murder plot. Apparently the white-hooded hoodlums planned to kill a North Carolina County Sherrif and blow up a courthouse. All of this was allegedly because said Sherriff wouldn't allow the Klan to participate in the annual Benson Mule Days which, from what I could tell, celebrates horses, mules, buggies, and other equine interests.

They allegedly raised at least $1,650 by selling some stolen guns, and Johnston County Sheriff Steve Bizzell said the money was intended to finance plans that included killing him.

He said they were angry with him over their failed plans to march in a popular community festival, Benson Mule Days. A local KKK leader related to two of the defendants had invited a Klan figure from Indiana to watch them march and was embarrassed when the group was barred from the event, Bizzell said.

The KKK, whose numbers peaked in the 1920s with approximately 4,000,000 card carrying members, isn't the force it used to be. According to the ADL:

The combined membership of all Klans today, including splinter groups, is 2500-3000, due largely to disputes among Klan leaders, its failure to recruit younger extremists, strong law enforcement, and litigation brought by civil rights groups that has bankrupted Klan treasuries.

Still, the culture of hate in America is alive and well, with the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project counting 762 active hate groups in the U.S. in 2004. While I could link to any number of hate groups online, I'd rather not send them the traffic. Instead, how about a visit to The Matthew Shepard Foundation, The King Center, or Tolerance.org, a project of the SPLC.

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Comments

Vampirate

Durham, NC

October 2004

MAR 21, 2006 05:35 PM

North Motherfucking Carolina. Woo!

Paul9000

Monterey, CA

November 2004

MAR 21, 2006 05:40 PM

I hate hate.

mamet

Charleston, SC

March 2005

MAR 21, 2006 05:45 PM

Paul9000 said:
I hate hate.

Have you recently joined Broken Social Scene?

The more people like this off the street, the better.

Wannie

Kingston, ON

March 2004

MAR 21, 2006 06:26 PM

I love the title of this article.

68stretch

Portland, OR

March 2003

MAR 21, 2006 07:14 PM

just goes to show why the granola eaters in the eaters in the elf are the fbi's #1 domestic terrorism priority.

Cigarette

Cleveland, OH

April 2004

MAR 21, 2006 07:34 PM

The KKK aren't really the ones to be looking out for anymore. They're a bunch of good ol' boy clubs now rather than their second incarnation in the early twenties. There are much more insidious groups these days, most of which follow the "Christian Identity" ideologies.

Attack_Macaque

Mesquite, TX

September 2004

MAR 21, 2006 08:18 PM

Clov said:
The KKK aren't really the ones to be looking out for anymore. They're a bunch of good ol' boy clubs now rather than their second incarnation in the early twenties. There are much more insidious groups these days, most of which follow the "Christian Identity" ideologies.

BatAttaK

Reston, VA

OLD SKOOL

MAR 21, 2006 08:28 PM

Paul9000 said:
I hate hate.

You hate up and down - you hate hanging 'round
You hate here and you hate there - you hate everywhere
You hate this and that - you hate where you're at
You hate near and far - all you hate is all you are!

Why hate the life you live? Hate makes waste - I'm positive
Why waste the life you live? Life's to love - I'm positive

You hate one or two - you hate life and you
You hate A to Z - you hate the world and me

Why hate the life you live and hate yourself on top of it?
Why hate the life you lie? Life's to love - I'm positive

I hate hate! I hate hate! I hate... hate!

billyfivecrows

Roswell, GA

July 2005

MAR 21, 2006 09:07 PM

I live just outside Atlanta, it's a modern city to be sure, so the Klan isn't really around, but an hour or two north of here, in small cities, they still have presence.

Once, I was riding through one of these lovely burgs, and the Klan had members at stoplights collecting money like they were fucking Shriners or something.

One guy ambles up to the car and I say "Hey! It's Casper the friendly bigot!!"

He gets all pissed with wrath for a second, then laughs and says

"Actually, that's pretty funny..."

Yeah, they've gotten pretty lightweight, but unfortunately they're still around.

MrStitches

Brooklyn, NY

November 2003

MAR 21, 2006 09:13 PM

A local KKK leader related to two of the defendants had invited a Klan figure from Indiana to watch them march and was embarrassed when the group was barred from the event, Bizzell said.

Awwwww. He was embarrassed!

BlackHive

Philadelphia, PA

January 2004

MAR 21, 2006 09:40 PM

I'm all for letting people do what they want but, seriously, screw those guys.

TheG

Somerville, MA

February 2004

MAR 21, 2006 11:41 PM

Attack_Macaque said:

I wanna laugh, but I can't help a couple of tears running down my face at the same time, because it's so true.

Fuck.

Can we make the Netherlands a superpower and can I move there?

ASSH0LE

Las Vegas, NV

June 2003

MAR 22, 2006 01:22 AM

I think you misread what the "Christian Identity" movement is all about. It's basically a reworking of Christianity to promote racism.

It's what the nazi skinhead types tend to move towards when they get older and settle down (if they haven't gone to prison to join the Aryan Brotherhood).

PoofMonger

San Antonio, TX

February 2005

MAR 22, 2006 02:59 AM

My favorite hate group= The First United Church Of Adolf Hitler
WTF are these people thinking?

theseeman

Asheville, NC

December 2002

MAR 22, 2006 09:44 AM

NC doesn't play that shit. Nor would Benson, AZ.