[Music]
we're in the deep woods of Mississippi
it's about 9:00 p.m. not many people get
to see this ritual
people have called us the Taliban come
on in some way we can relate to Islamic
extremist just like we are Christian
extremists because they're fighting a
holy war and so are we
Klansmen salute the cross clans been
behold the fiery cross still brilliant
we did not burn but life the cross the
signified that Christ is the light of
the world the Ku Klux Klan by most
people's estimation it was considered a
relic of times going by but in deeds of
clans out and recruiting again
God give us men who will not flinch it
duty and who will not live God give us
men amen Klansmen for God for the United
States Marine Corps Klansmen for the US
Army do you believe there's been a any
targeting of vets and the recruitment of
these hate groups absolutely
there is a recruitment effort and that
not only those that are still on their
basis but also those are coming out of
their time of serving and duty and many
of these hate groups come in and very
conveniently offer them a very skewed
sense of reality and what the problems
are
[Music]
after witnessing a cross burning and
hearing the Klan was actively recruiting
young veterans returning home from
Afghanistan and Iraq we traveled to
Montgomery Alabama to the offices of the
Southern Poverty Law Center an anti hate
organization that keeps a close watch on
Klan activity to meet with their
spokesperson Mark Potok there is a very
high degree of interest on the part of
Klan groups in returning military
veterans with high end military skills
that they think will be useful to them
one day we're at a time where pretty
much everyone's cycling out any soldiers
of Iraq and Afghanistan they've got all
these guys a lot of them with PTSD do
you see that being a concern in the
coming years of this pool of former
soldiers yeah look I mean first of all
you know I think it's worth saying that
you know veterans as a group shouldn't
be defamed but there's no doubt that a
lot of these men are coming back
traumatized with serious PTSD and other
problems the economy is not good they're
not getting jobs so they come home to a
situation that is not very good for them
and I think that what some veterans find
in these groups is family
[Music]
I'm a friend we also got cupcakes this
is a 4th of July we're celebrating 4th
of July you had a KKK you got to a Rabs
in the singing park I worst chips that
I'm gonna take him my raps and chips be
nice to him let them have some chips
some chips
I think they're praying and they're
praying to Mecca I can do that I can do
it they're praying Muslims in the Klan I
walked over elves gonna give me Muslims
from Chios and everything pray I don't
like Muslims at all I just assume spit
on their own fire and walk off did you
feel that strongly about it before you
serve not before I serve you know you
were in combat and in Iraq I was da we
worked our way from Kuwait City all the
way up to right there on the Border's
Iraq and Iran I've got a Purple Heart
I got a Bronze Star with V device I've
got three Army Commendation medals and
then several other Good Conduct medals
and things like that a lot of people
don't grasp what if that goes through
what he's been through and you say
claims of somebody and they
automatically think y'all hate black
people but you know you get to know
these guys
it's like a sense of belonging it's like
you found brothers and sisters you never
knew you had veterans finding a home in
the Klan and other hate groups is not a
new phenomenon especially in the eyes of
organizations such as the n-double-a-cp
we spoke with Hillary Shelton the
n-double-a-cp Washington bureau director
for some historical perspective on the
Emmy flow of Klan activity throughout
the years hate groups have recruited in
the Armed Services from the very
beginning of our society even the Ku
Klux Klan was created by Confederate
generals there were disillusioned with
the ending of the war as it was they
grabbed that Dixie battle flag and went
out to create Knight Riders which of
course was the precursor to the Klan
anyway so all those components have been
part of that scenario for a long time
throughout its 150-year history the KKK
has manifested itself in three distinct
iterations with its membership surging
at the end of major conflicts the first
iteration was established during the
Reconstruction era following the Civil
War the second following World War one
swelled the clans ranks to well over
three million the third and most
ideologically extreme version of the
Klan came after World War two with the
aim of disrupting the civil rights
movement and carried on well into the
90s besides white robes and hoods the
other thing these three iterations had
in common was their recruitment of
disenfranchised and troubled young men
returning home from combat who were
struggling with adapting to the societal
changes happening in America
later that day we headed off to meet
Steve who claims to be a former Marine
who served in the war in Afghanistan he
also says he's been a member of the KKK
since he was 18 years old when did you
know and how did you know that you want
to join the Klan about nine or ten years
old my mother brought home a movie in
college Mississippi Burning I seen these
white people standing strong that's my
mother I said mother I said who are
these gods my mother said that's the Ku
Klux Klan and now right after then I
remember having dreams of a church with
nothing but Klansmen in it I always had
a fascination with the Clinton I think a
lot of it was going up during the 90s
and seeing the riots and OJ Simpson the
OJ Simpson was the first time that I
ever experienced race I think blacks
took that as a way was this is our guy
here this is a guy that we're gonna
stand behind though J we're gonna get
off in the whites and the whites were
like I can't believe that a black son of
a savage like that's gonna get off for
what he did to these innocent people
murdering innocent white people and this
was the first time that I ever notice
there's a different here between whites
and blacks when I enlisted my views
would become more hardcore I became a
very angry person when I served and I
still have a lot of problems with my
anger because of it does the Klan
actively look to recruit that's current
military a little recruit veterans we
would include anybody start with
contract are they're particularly
appealing that's the training they have
and stuff like that it helps us in a lot
of ways the way you're handling a
firearm improvising us to the best
people and I believe that if we don't
stand up and take a stand here soon then
my children are gonna be gonna be raped
raped and murdered
[Music]