PALATKA, Fla. (AP) — Joseph Moore breathed heavily, his face slick with nervous sweat. He held a cellphone with a photo of a man splayed on the floor; the man appeared dead, his shirt torn apart and his pants wet.
Puffy dark clouds blocked the sun as Moore greeted another man, who’d pulled up in a metallic blue sedan. They met behind an old fried chicken shack in rural north Florida.
“KIGY, my brother,” Moore said. It was shorthand for “klansman I greet you.”
Birds chirped in a tree overhead and traffic whooshed by on a nearby road, muddling the sound of their voices, which were being recorded secretly.
Moore brought the phone to David “Sarge” Moran, who wore a camouflage-print baseball hat emblazoned with a Confederate flag patch and a metal cross. His arms and hands were covered in tattoos.
A nervous, giddy chuckle escaped Moran’s mouth.
“Oh, shit. I love it,” he said. “Motherf----- pissed on himself. Good job.”
“Is that what y’all wanted?”
“Yes, hell yeah,” Moran said, his voice pitched high.
It was 11:30 a.m. on March 19, 2015, and the klansmen were celebrating what they thought was a successful murder in Florida.
But the FBI had gotten wind of the murder plot. A confidential informant had infiltrated the group, and his recordings provide a rare, detailed look at the inner workings of a modern klan cell and a domestic terrorism probe.
That investigation would unearth another secret: An unknown number of klansmen were working inside the Florida Department of Corrections, with significant power over inmates, Black and white.
___
continues .....
for awhile.
Everyone needs to read this article. Pretty overwhelming on what goes on in the world.
I want to know how they got access to the story and why the Fla DA never went further in investigating people? This was to pacify someone where it could be delved into much deeper.
PALATKA, Fla. (AP) — Joseph Moore breathed heavily, his face slick with nervous sweat. He held a cellphone with a photo of a man splayed on the floor; the man appeared dead, his shirt torn apart and his pants wet.
Puffy dark clouds blocked the sun as Moore greeted another man, who’d pulled up in a metallic blue sedan. They met behind an old fried chicken shack in rural north Florida.
“KIGY, my brother,” Moore said. It was shorthand for “klansman I greet you.”
Birds chirped in a tree overhead and traffic whooshed by on a nearby road, muddling the sound of their voices, which were being recorded secretly.
Moore brought the phone to David “Sarge” Moran, who wore a camouflage-print baseball hat emblazoned with a Confederate flag patch and a metal cross. His arms and hands were covered in tattoos.
A nervous, giddy chuckle escaped Moran’s mouth.
“Oh, shit. I love it,” he said. “Motherf----- pissed on himself. Good job.”
“Is that what y’all wanted?”
“Yes, hell yeah,” Moran said, his voice pitched high.
It was 11:30 a.m. on March 19, 2015, and the klansmen were celebrating what they thought was a successful murder in Florida.
But the FBI had gotten wind of the murder plot. A confidential informant had infiltrated the group, and his recordings provide a rare, detailed look at the inner workings of a modern klan cell and a domestic terrorism probe.
That investigation would unearth another secret: An unknown number of klansmen were working inside the Florida Department of Corrections, with significant power over inmates, Black and white.
___
continues .....
for awhile.
Everyone needs to read this article. Pretty overwhelming on what goes on in the world.
I want to know how they got access to the story and why the Fla DA never went further in investigating people? This was to pacify someone where it could be delved into much deeper.
Thanks for posting.
Because systemic racism is reality.
My college town (and surrounding towns) was a KKK hotbed. Some of the businesses there still had Jim Crow signage in 1997, and the most elaborate and decorated grave in the cemetery was of a former notsogranddouchelord.
But I'm quite familiar with Palatka and Lake City as well. Both of those towns, as well as Live Oak (picked tobacco for a summer there), were much scarier than my college town. I'm white, and I still always had my guard up when visiting college friends/girlfriends in those towns.
PALATKA, Fla. (AP) — Joseph Moore breathed heavily, his face slick with nervous sweat. He held a cellphone with a photo of a man splayed on the floor; the man appeared dead, his shirt torn apart and his pants wet.
Puffy dark clouds blocked the sun as Moore greeted another man, who’d pulled up in a metallic blue sedan. They met behind an old fried chicken shack in rural north Florida.
“KIGY, my brother,” Moore said. It was shorthand for “klansman I greet you.”
Birds chirped in a tree overhead and traffic whooshed by on a nearby road, muddling the sound of their voices, which were being recorded secretly.
Moore brought the phone to David “Sarge” Moran, who wore a camouflage-print baseball hat emblazoned with a Confederate flag patch and a metal cross. His arms and hands were covered in tattoos.
A nervous, giddy chuckle escaped Moran’s mouth.
“Oh, shit. I love it,” he said. “Motherf----- pissed on himself. Good job.”
“Is that what y’all wanted?”
“Yes, hell yeah,” Moran said, his voice pitched high.
It was 11:30 a.m. on March 19, 2015, and the klansmen were celebrating what they thought was a successful murder in Florida.
But the FBI had gotten wind of the murder plot. A confidential informant had infiltrated the group, and his recordings provide a rare, detailed look at the inner workings of a modern klan cell and a domestic terrorism probe.
That investigation would unearth another secret: An unknown number of klansmen were working inside the Florida Department of Corrections, with significant power over inmates, Black and white.
___
continues .....
for awhile.
Everyone needs to read this article. Pretty overwhelming on what goes on in the world.
I want to know how they got access to the story and why the Fla DA never went further in investigating people? This was to pacify someone where it could be delved into much deeper.
Thanks for posting.
Because systemic racism is reality.
My college town (and surrounding towns) was a KKK hotbed. Some of the businesses there still had Jim Crow signage in 1997, and the most elaborate and decorated grave in the cemetery was of a former notsogranddouchelord.
But I'm quite familiar with Palatka and Lake City as well. Both of those towns, as well as Live Oak (picked tobacco for a summer there), were much scarier than my college town. I'm white, and I still always had my guard up when visiting college friends/girlfriends in those towns.
Yeah, and it's not just in the south. Think of Napa, California. Liberal wine town, right? Well, years ago I read an article in on of Southern Poverty Law Center's newsletters about right-wing hate groups in Napa including KKK. I was surprised back then. I'm not, now. And they have a strong history there as well. It's easy for some people to regard California as the liberal "left coast", but the problems exist here as well. Racism against blacks. Racism against Hispanics and Asians. And genocide of peaceful west coast Native Americans. Europeans were REALLY good at that here- cleaned 'em all out! Except for our token Indian, Ishi. Racism is all over the place.
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
PALATKA, Fla. (AP) — Joseph Moore breathed heavily, his face slick with nervous sweat. He held a cellphone with a photo of a man splayed on the floor; the man appeared dead, his shirt torn apart and his pants wet.
Puffy dark clouds blocked the sun as Moore greeted another man, who’d pulled up in a metallic blue sedan. They met behind an old fried chicken shack in rural north Florida.
“KIGY, my brother,” Moore said. It was shorthand for “klansman I greet you.”
Birds chirped in a tree overhead and traffic whooshed by on a nearby road, muddling the sound of their voices, which were being recorded secretly.
Moore brought the phone to David “Sarge” Moran, who wore a camouflage-print baseball hat emblazoned with a Confederate flag patch and a metal cross. His arms and hands were covered in tattoos.
A nervous, giddy chuckle escaped Moran’s mouth.
“Oh, shit. I love it,” he said. “Motherf----- pissed on himself. Good job.”
“Is that what y’all wanted?”
“Yes, hell yeah,” Moran said, his voice pitched high.
It was 11:30 a.m. on March 19, 2015, and the klansmen were celebrating what they thought was a successful murder in Florida.
But the FBI had gotten wind of the murder plot. A confidential informant had infiltrated the group, and his recordings provide a rare, detailed look at the inner workings of a modern klan cell and a domestic terrorism probe.
That investigation would unearth another secret: An unknown number of klansmen were working inside the Florida Department of Corrections, with significant power over inmates, Black and white.
___
continues .....
for awhile.
Everyone needs to read this article. Pretty overwhelming on what goes on in the world.
I want to know how they got access to the story and why the Fla DA never went further in investigating people? This was to pacify someone where it could be delved into much deeper.
Thanks for posting.
Because systemic racism is reality.
My college town (and surrounding towns) was a KKK hotbed. Some of the businesses there still had Jim Crow signage in 1997, and the most elaborate and decorated grave in the cemetery was of a former notsogranddouchelord.
But I'm quite familiar with Palatka and Lake City as well. Both of those towns, as well as Live Oak (picked tobacco for a summer there), were much scarier than my college town. I'm white, and I still always had my guard up when visiting college friends/girlfriends in those towns.
There were parts of Georgia my buddy Mike would not want to be broke down in. We were driving up from Perry to Atlanta to see the Braves play. He said that if he was to break down that he would run until he was out of those towns as they didn't like black folk.
I don't know that I would advise this, because it could get some people in trouble, but I think there's a lot a what guy like me can and has learned from living in and visiting predominately black urban neighborhoods. Here's some examples:
-In 1971 I lived in a high rise "project" in the (then) poor south-east edge of San Francisco. The two building residents were 85% black. Never had a problem. Looking very shaggy and bedraggled maybe helped. Probably was why one small group of young black men bought some records from me cheap because I was broke and then gave me a bunch of drugs. They were cool.
-1972, I fell asleep on a bus and woke up at the end of the line in the middle of Hunters Point, a really rough, very predominantly black neighborhood back then. It was 1 am and I ask the black bus driver if I could stay on the bus until it turned around. He said "NO!" and kicked me off the bus. He was a prick and I figured I was good as dead. I got on the next bus I saw on a more major street (didn't matter which one- any bus) and when we pulled out I watched as a black dude stole a black woman's purse. He saw me watching and looked at me like, "You say a word mutha fucker and you will die." I put my head down and kept quiet as a mouse.
-1973, a buddy of mine and I drove all the way back east to New York City. We took a wrong turn and ended up in a really rough black neighborhood. My buddy said if we stopped or if his old car stalled we would probably die. The car kept running.
-Mid 1980's, I drove back east again and went to visit my cousin in NYC. I got lost trying to find his apartment and ended up in a very burned out looking ghetto and every time I came to a stop light, angry looking black men started walking toward my car. I ran a bunch of red lights.
-The next day my cousin took me to see The Cloisters. We took a subway and got off at the wrong station. We went up the stairs and realized we were in Harlem. White guys didn't go to Harlem then. My cousin is half Armenian. He said, "I am dark complected and have dark curly hair so I think I can pass, but you are rather pale. You should try to see what is going on around you 360 degrees but don't look like you are looking around. OK, got it. Somehow managed to figure that one out fast.
-2020 or so I went to a memorial gathering. Most of the people there were white, well to do, and highly educated. Four of the guys there were black and they seemed like dudes but were off by themselves talking. I got bored with the highly educated though very nice white folks and went and hung out with the brothers. They seemed a bit uncertain about me at first but soon enough we were laughing and having a good time!
-2012 or so, coming home from a trip to the Bay Area, notice the car was low on gas. Pulled into a gas station where everyone was black. Some black kid whacked me on the back of the head trying to do that knock out game thing. I jumped in the car and he tried to bust out my window. The Prius has very tough windows! I managed to get out of there and came back later to talk to the black dudes who were working at the station. They said they had been robbed by the same kid and his punk friends. They very cool and were surprised I came back. We parted very friendly like.
So what I learned is that the suppression of blacks in America has led to a lot of people living fucked up lives in fucked up places and some of them are really shitty people and some are really cool people. If you look at the history, you know how things got this way and probably why some of the people are the way they are. Basically, a lot of this was created by systemic, long term, historical, and persistent racism. It's too bad some of those white racist motherfuckers you read don't have more similar experiences. Maybe they would learn something. Or maybe not.
Something has to give. People need to get it together. This has been going on FAR too long.
Post edited by brianlux on
“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
Comments
I want to know how they got access to the story and why the Fla DA never went further in investigating people? This was to pacify someone where it could be delved into much deeper.
Thanks for posting.
My college town (and surrounding towns) was a KKK hotbed. Some of the businesses there still had Jim Crow signage in 1997, and the most elaborate and decorated grave in the cemetery was of a former notsogranddouchelord.
But I'm quite familiar with Palatka and Lake City as well. Both of those towns, as well as Live Oak (picked tobacco for a summer there), were much scarier than my college town. I'm white, and I still always had my guard up when visiting college friends/girlfriends in those towns.
Friggin crazy... This was early 2000's.