- So you said you have the card in your wallet.
- I do.
- Can I see that?
- I'm Sergeant Ron Stallworth, retired.
When I was the detective at the Colorado Springs
Police Department, in 1978, I launched a investigation
into the Ku Klux Klan, a chapter that was forming
and trying to expand, in my city.
I launched it based on seeing a want ad
in the classified section of the newspaper,
and there was a P.O. Box number.
I wrote a note, a letter if you will, to that P.O. Box.
I basically said, "I hate niggers, spics, chinks,
Jews, Japs, and anybody else who isn't pure
Aryan White like me."
And, I wanted to join something that would allow me
to direct my attention towards that.
About a week, two weeks later, I get a phone call
in my office.
The voice on the end of the phone said,
"Hi, this is Ken O'Dell, I'm the local chapter president
of the Colorado Springs Ku Klux Klan."
His response to me was, "You're just the kinda guy
we're looking for, when can we meet?"
That's when I said, "Oh hell, what do I do now?"
I immediately formulated a strategy and it was simply
to get a white officer, posing as me, to go meet this guy.
Chuck, that's not his real name, I knew Chuck well,
he was a good undercover officer, and so I chose him.
When I set off to do this, it was simply to gather
information on the Klan, who they are, what they are,
where they are, how many they are, and take it from there.
Chuck, his lieutenant said, "This'll never work
because Chuck will walk into the meeting
and they'll immediately recognize from his voice
that he's not black."
I said to the lieutenant, "What does
a black man sound like?"
And then he said, "You know, shucking and jiving,
and saying mother blank blank."
I said, " I can shuck and jive if I have to,
but B, I can speak correct English when I need to."
When I needed a physical body to attend a Klan meeting,
I would go tell him, we need you for this.
Most of these guys carry guns, and Chuck would go into
the situation knowing that these people were armed
and they're unpredictable.
David Duke was the National Director/Grand Wizard
of the Ku Klux Klan.
I called him up one day to find out where my membership
card was, 'cause you were supposed to get it within
two weeks of applying.
On this particular day, David Duke happened to be there,
picked the phone up.
- What can I do ya for?
- He told me that there'd been a administrative snafu,
and he personally would process the membership
and send my card to me.
I actually have the card in my wallet.
I've carried that card in my wallet since I got
it in January of 1979, and I also have a certificiate
of membership to the Ku Klux Klan, both documents signed,
prepared and signed by David Duke.
During the seven and a half months of the undercover phase,
the results were, we prevented three cross burnings.
Cross burning is a domestic act of terrorism,
it's been classified as such.
So, we prevented three of those in Colorado Springs,
no one ever had to wake up and be terrorized
seeing a burning cross in the distance.
We also learned of two military personnel working at
North American Air Defense Command, NORAD,
who had top security clearance to man the console
that monitored the North American air space.
We uncovered two members of the Klan who had that job.
I was invited into NORAD, met the Deputy Commander,
and based on the information I provided to him,
he contacted the Pentagon, talked to some General there,
and that General ordered him to order those two men off
NORAD, and to reassign them.
I was told that they were going to, quote, unquote,
the North Pole.
- America first.
- They nominated Chuck/me to become
the local chapter president.
When I told my Chief of Police this latest development,
he said, "End the investigation now."
He said, "It's gone far enough."
I was told to have no further contact with the Klan,
don't answer the phone, don't go to anymore meetings.
He also ordered me to destroy the file.
I have two notebooks, about oh, three inches thick maybe.
When my Sergeant wasn't looking, I took the notebooks,
put 'em under my arm, walked out to my car
and took 'em home.
Groups like the Ku Klux Klan, Neo Nazi's, Skinheads,
Alt-right, call 'em what you will, they're basically
all the same.
We need to be aware of who they are, what they are,
why they are, and we need to address these issues
when they come up.
Too many people are afraid to talk about the issue of race.
We should be willing to address it, and more importantly,
when it rears its ugly head we should be willing
to take a stand and try to stomp it out,
whatever the action may be at a particular time.
You oughta tape the back, because you wanna focus
on number five.
Every time David Duke talked to me, or any of the
Klansmen talked to me on the phone, they were violating
number five, the pledge to never talk to local, state,
or federal officials.
And we got a lot of chuckles outta that.