FBI’s Jacksonville office wanted a confidential informant who had the talent and connections to get inside a violent klan cell, the Traditionalist American Knights of the KKK. They found him.pic.twitter.com/6QdQtLTF00
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FBI’s Jacksonville office wanted a confidential informant who had the talent and connections to get inside a violent klan cell, the Traditionalist American Knights of the KKK. They found him.pic.twitter.com/6QdQtLTF00
The informant was an Army vet and trained sniper, and like many informants he was a risky choice. He’d had psychotic episodes and ongoing mental health issues, and was fired previously by an FBI agent for blabbing about his work on another case.
But he was a skilled operator. After making contact with the klan, he signed a blood oath and was “naturalized” into the Invisible Empire of the KKK. The FBI OK’d him to begin secretly recording.
He professed a background as an elite assassin, and the klan elevated him to “Grand Night Hawk” in charge of group security. That’s when three klansmen who were current and former prison guards approached him about the murder.
The guards wanted to kill a Black prison inmate because he’d bitten one of them during a fight. “One night we find him out there and I can walk right up, put him out of his misery,” said a klan leader, called the Exalted Cyclops.pic.twitter.com/GIBG0qdfnE
The recordings capture three klansmen driving to the inmate’s home. They had syringes of insulin and were ready to kidnap and inject him and make it look like an overdose.pic.twitter.com/Tp1oluNp3s
The murder attempt would be unsuccessful, but they planned to try again. Later, FBI agents staged a murder photo the informant could show to the klansmen and record their reactions. The photos, elicited joy and cheers.
Florida prosecuted the three former guards. Two of them got nine years, one pleaded out and got four.
Even with proof of klansmen working in a state prison, the DOC didn't find cause to investigate further. A spokeswoman told @AP there was no indication of a wider problem.
In April, @AP visited the employee and volunteer parking lot at the prison where the three klansmen had worked.
Vehicles were festooned with imagery associated with white supremacist groups including the Confederate Flag and Q-Anon.pic.twitter.com/OeTqz2onZj
The FBI has for decades warned that white extremist groups’ infiltration of law enforcement is a modern national security threat. Off-duty police officers marched alongside white supremacists in the Jan. 6 insurrection.
The klan’s failed murder plot continues to haunt the target of it. Warren Williams and his family live with constant paranoia and fear that the klan will finish the job. Williams is suing Florida and the three guards. Florida has moved to have the suit thrown out.
WATCH the video from @AP and read @JHDearen’s story on http://APNews.com :https://apnews.com/article/government-and-politics-business-race-and-ethnicity-racial-injustice-only-on-ap-2b4106de3ebcbfae85948439a7056031 …
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