{"id":107503,"date":"2016-07-20T06:27:00","date_gmt":"2016-07-20T10:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/raleighpublicrecord.org\/?p=107503"},"modified":"2016-07-20T09:24:42","modified_gmt":"2016-07-20T13:24:42","slug":"to-katch-a-klansman-fbi-informant-behind-recent-kkk-fliers-in-raleigh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/news\/2016\/07\/20\/to-katch-a-klansman-fbi-informant-behind-recent-kkk-fliers-in-raleigh\/","title":{"rendered":"To Katch a Klansman: FBI Informant Behind Recent KKK Fliers in Raleigh"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Fliers distributed in Raleigh and other North Carolina cities last weekend urging residents to join the Ku Klux Klan are part of an apparent nationwide recruiting drive for the white supremacist organization with one minor twist: the phone number and websites listed trace back to a Klan chapter whose leader is a reported FBI informant.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">I&#8217;m sure the KKK will find plenty of recruits in SFPD <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/L446Kl8H94\">https:\/\/t.co\/L446Kl8H94<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/XSFf67mSlY\">https:\/\/t.co\/XSFf67mSlY<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/70Ov4Syeqx\">https:\/\/t.co\/70Ov4Syeqx<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Adam Hudson (@adamhudson5) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/adamhudson5\/status\/753752635954466816\">July 15, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>As <a href=\"http:\/\/www.indyweek.com\/news\/archives\/2016\/07\/18\/kkk-drops-flyers-in-raleigh-neighborhood-as-part-of-seemingly-coordinated-national-campaign\" target=\"_blank\">reported by\u00a0the Independent Weekly<\/a> along\u00a0with other\u00a0local and national outlets, the fliers begged\u00a0readers to &#8220;PLEASE JOIN BEFORE IT&#8217;S TOO LATE&#8221; and offered up a 24\/7 national hotline, 336-432-0386 and two websites, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.kkkknights.com\" target=\"_blank\">kkkknights.com <\/a>&amp;\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.loyalwhiteknights.com\" target=\"_blank\">loyalwhiteknights.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Per online phone directory <a href=\"http:\/\/www.whitepages.com\/phone\/1-336-432-0386\" target=\"_blank\">whitepages.com<\/a>, the 336 number has been linked to the Eden, North Carolina-based &#8220;klavern&#8221; known as the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan since 2014. One user on the site claimed the number had been attached to a Craigslist ad for a free television set.<\/p>\n<p>The woman to whom the websites are registered, Amanda Barker (she has a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/whiteladyb\/videos\" target=\"_blank\">YouTube Channel<\/a> and is identified as the group&#8217;s &#8220;Imperial Kommander&#8221;)\u00a0emailed\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thedailybeast.com\/articles\/2016\/07\/13\/the-kkk-is-recruiting-in-san-francisco.html\" target=\"_blank\">the Daily Beast<\/a> last week to confirm their group was behind the distribution of copies of the same flyer in San Francisco earlier this month.<\/p>\n<p>Amanda Barker&#8217;s husband, Chris Barker, was identified as the &#8220;Imperial Wizard&#8221; of the Loyal White Knights in a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bigstory.ap.org\/article\/bd55fdecb5a54a01876cd58410d4af75\/ku-klux-klan-dreams-rising-again-150-years-after-founding\" target=\"_blank\">June 2016 article<\/a> from the Associated Press about the Klan&#8217;s dreams of &#8220;rising again.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Barker was portrayed in a somewhat\u00a0different light in a series of articles published just a year earlier, where he was described by freelance journalist <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nate-thayer.com\/disgraced-kkk-leader-became-a-key-fbi-operative-in-radioactive-ray-gun-plot\/\" target=\"_blank\">Matt Theyer<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-usa-crime-radiation-idUSKCN0QQ1YV20150821\" target=\"_blank\">Reuters<\/a> and the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.timesunion.com\/local\/article\/Agent-KKK-member-wanted-tubes-like-you-see-on-6450926.php\" target=\"_blank\">Albany Times Union<\/a> as an FBI informant in a case against a man who wanted to build &#8220;a mobile death ray.&#8221; Baker&#8217;s connection to the mobile death ray case has so far gone unreported in other media reports on the fliers.<\/p>\n<p>That man, Glendon Scott Crawford, who said friends described him as &#8220;a cross between Darth Vader and Forrest Gump&#8221; planned to use the death ray against Muslims, but never against Sikhs or American troops. He\u00a0told Barker that if used properly, the death ray\u00a0&#8220;could kill the entire United Nations.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_107542\"  class=\"wp-caption module image aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 634px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-107542 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/deathray.jpg\" alt=\"deathray\" width=\"634\" height=\"311\" srcset=\"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/deathray.jpg 634w, https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/deathray-336x165.jpg 336w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 634px) 100vw, 634px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">A rendering of the death ray created by ABC News<\/p><\/div>\n<p>According to the Times Union:<\/p>\n<p><em>Crawford initially reached the imperial wizard in July after calling a Klan hotline number and sending the Klan an email explaining he was interested in &#8220;restoring our nation to greatness.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Barker, who was facing felony charges, went to the FBI in Charlotte to inform it of Crawford&#8217;s call.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Although none of the articles from the time specifically mention which national hotline it is that Crawford called into, there&#8217;s little doubt it&#8217;s the 336 number splashed across all those recently distributed fliers.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Enemy of My Enemy&#8230;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A once powerful organization which in\u00a0the 1920s boasted more than 4 million members\u00a0\u2014 about 3 percent of the U.S. population at the time\u00a0\u2014 The Ku Klux Klan has been greatly reduced in both size and stature, and is estimated to have between 3,000-6,000 members nationwide, about .001 percent of the population.<\/p>\n<p>In spite of its relatively small numbers, the Klan\u00a0remains an eternal specter on the landscape of American life.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s no surprise, then, that the organization is\u00a0a regular target of law enforcement, the media and groups\u00a0such as the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center, both of which keep\u00a0close\u00a0tabs on the Klan&#8217;s various klaverns.<\/p>\n<p>Freelance journalist Nate Theyer\u00a0has written several articles about Barker specifically\u00a0\u2014 ranging from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nate-thayer.com\/why-it-is-a-bad-idea-for-the-ku-klux-klan-to-lie-to-journalists\/\" target=\"_blank\">his purported endorsement<\/a>\u00a0of Presumptive Democratic Party Nominee Hillary Clinton to his<a href=\"http:\/\/www.nate-thayer.com\/undercover-fbi-agent-head-kkk-group-rallying-defend-south-carolina-confederate-flag\/\" target=\"_blank\"> history as an informant<\/a>\u00a0and his <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nate-thayer.com\/disgraced-kkk-leader-became-a-key-fbi-operative-in-radioactive-ray-gun-plot\/\" target=\"_blank\">apparent pariah status<\/a> among fellow Klan members.<\/p>\n<p>According to Theyer, here&#8217;s what some of those\u00a0fellow members had to say about Barker.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cBarker is a piece of crap. He is a fake and a liar,\u201d said JB Elmore, the Imperial Wizard of the United Knights of Tennessee of the KKK in another interview. \u201cChris Barker is not a Klansman. I don\u2019t talk to the media. I wouldn\u2019t be talking to you, but you asked me about Barker and I will talk all night about him. He is a drunk and a federal agent.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cChris Barker is a drunk, a thief, a liar, and hate filled cowardly lunatic who enlists people to do what he himself doesn\u2019t have the guts to do with his inflammatory public rallies which he doesn\u2019t attend but sits in the comfort of his own home while putting his members in danger,\u201d added the Imperial Wizard of the Traditionalist American Knights of the KKK, Frank Ancona.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>When Barker&#8217;s Loyal White Knights pulled a similar flyer distribution stunt in 2014, SPLC senior fellow Mark Potok published <a href=\"https:\/\/www.splcenter.org\/fighting-hate\/intelligence-report\/2014\/ku-klux-kant\" target=\"_blank\">a lengthy piece<\/a> examining the &#8220;sorry state&#8221; of the Klan. He described the\u00a0&#8220;internecine rivalries that typify today\u2019s Klan scene&#8221; which\u00a0likely played a part in what he described as a decline in total klaverns nationwide since\u00a02010.<\/p>\n<p>Although Potok didn&#8217;t make\u00a0the connection the case had with the Loyal White Knights, he\u00a0did at the end of his report\u00a0touch upon\u00a0the impending\u00a0trial of Crawford, and\u00a0his plans for\u00a0a death ray as examples of the problems posed by the Klan today.<\/p>\n<p>Among those in agreement with Potok&#8217;s general assessment of the Crawford trial were members of a forum on the white supremacist website <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stormfront.org\" target=\"_blank\">Stormfront.org<\/a>, who describe themselves as &#8220;a community of racial realists and idealists.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.splcenter.org\/fighting-hate\/extremist-files\/group\/stormfront\" target=\"_blank\">SPLC lists Stormfront <\/a>as an &#8220;Extremist Group;&#8221; not surprisingly,\u00a0there are countless threads on Stormfront criticizing the SPLC in general and even <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=0ahUKEwjwysTQvIHOAhVD7CYKHfm6B3EQFggeMAA&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.stormfront.org%2Fforum%2Ft584245%2F&amp;usg=AFQjCNF-Xv0gl88pTpwZeG113wHZQeq6WA&amp;sig2=cOohZa2mAcZ1KHi7CjuN0Q\" target=\"_blank\">Potok in particular<\/a>, yet on one\u00a0subject they\u00a0appear to be largely in agreement: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stormfront.org\/forum\/t1116623\/\" target=\"_blank\">the Klan today is in a sorry state.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-107532\" src=\"http:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Screen-Shot-2016-07-20-at-3.27.12-AM-1170x144.png\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2016-07-20 at 3.27.12 AM\" width=\"771\" height=\"95\" srcset=\"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Screen-Shot-2016-07-20-at-3.27.12-AM-1170x144.png 1170w, https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Screen-Shot-2016-07-20-at-3.27.12-AM-336x41.png 336w, https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Screen-Shot-2016-07-20-at-3.27.12-AM-768x94.png 768w, https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Screen-Shot-2016-07-20-at-3.27.12-AM-771x95.png 771w, https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Screen-Shot-2016-07-20-at-3.27.12-AM.png 1392w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>On that same thread, another forum member linked some of Theyer&#8217;s\u00a0articles and pointed out that Barker himself was an apparent member of the Stormfront community.<\/p>\n<p>A September 2015 post\u00a0from &#8220;barker1866,&#8221; whose first post was in March of 2010, and included a link to the kkkknights.com site and listed the 336 national hotline phone number, disputed the allegations made by Theyer\u00a0and other news\u00a0outlets.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-107534\" src=\"http:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Screen-Shot-2016-07-20-at-3.25.54-AM.png\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2016-07-20 at 3.25.54 AM\" width=\"771\" height=\"95\" srcset=\"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Screen-Shot-2016-07-20-at-3.25.54-AM.png 1153w, https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Screen-Shot-2016-07-20-at-3.25.54-AM-336x41.png 336w, https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Screen-Shot-2016-07-20-at-3.25.54-AM-768x95.png 768w, https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Screen-Shot-2016-07-20-at-3.25.54-AM-771x95.png 771w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>It should be worth noting that not all forum members were so quick to judge Barker, as \u00a0&#8220;Walter Fairchild II&#8221;offered up this more generous interpretation of the events surrounding the case in response to a separate post from Barker:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-107533\" src=\"http:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Screen-Shot-2016-07-20-at-3.26.16-AM.png\" alt=\"Screen Shot 2016-07-20 at 3.26.16 AM\" width=\"771\" height=\"106\" srcset=\"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Screen-Shot-2016-07-20-at-3.26.16-AM.png 1143w, https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Screen-Shot-2016-07-20-at-3.26.16-AM-336x46.png 336w, https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Screen-Shot-2016-07-20-at-3.26.16-AM-768x105.png 768w, https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Screen-Shot-2016-07-20-at-3.26.16-AM-771x106.png 771w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The exact circumstances of the Crawford case notwithstanding, the recent flier distribution efforts do speak to an indisputable inclination of Barker&#8217;s to\u00a0draw a spotlight to his cause.<\/p>\n<p>As reported by Theyer and elsewhere, Barker was behind a protest in July of 2015 against the removal of the Confederate Flag from the South Carolina State Capitol and has made himself available to major media outlets such as <a href=\"http:\/\/time.com\/4097516\/ku-klux-klan-anonymous\/\" target=\"_blank\">Time<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bigstory.ap.org\/article\/bd55fdecb5a54a01876cd58410d4af75\/ku-klux-klan-dreams-rising-again-150-years-after-founding\" target=\"_blank\">The Associated Press<\/a>\u00a0in order to spread his views; not to mention his attempted endorsement of Hillary Clinton.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless of whether Barker is an FBI informant, an agent provocateur or just your average,\u00a0run-of-the-mill\u00a0Imperial Wizard; if you&#8217;ve got plans for a high-tech death ray, he&#8217;s probably not the guy to share them with.<\/p>\n<p>One final twist: While\u00a0Barker is widely identified as the &#8220;Imperial Wizard&#8221; for the LWK, which amounts to serving as the\u00a0klavern&#8217;s national leader, the Daily Beast article mentioned earlier featured an interview with Will Quigg, who is described as a &#8220;Grand Wizard,&#8221; or a state-level leader for LWK.<\/p>\n<p>Here&#8217;s the twist: during a demonstration in Anaheim, California in February 2016, Quigg was saved from a violent\u00a0crowd\u00a0of counter-protestors by Brian Levin, a Jewish man and a former employee of the Southern Poverty Law Center.<\/p>\n<p>The OC Weekly <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ocweekly.com\/news\/meet-the-jew-who-shielded-kkk-from-even-bigger-beatdown-during-anaheim-protest-7005585\" target=\"_blank\">reported at the time<\/a> that after their escape from the mob,\u00a0Levin asked Quigg how it felt to be &#8220;saved by a Jewish\u00a0guy.&#8221; Quigg thanked Levin, but went on to praise Hitler as a &#8220;civil rights hero&#8221; and\u00a0argue that\u00a0the Holocaust had never happened.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The man behind the distribution of a recent wave of KKK recruitment fliers in Raleigh and other North Carolina cities is also a reported FBI informant who provided evidence last year in a case against a fellow Klan member who sought to build a &#8220;mobile death ray.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24061,"featured_media":107537,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15,23],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107503"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24061"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107503\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}