A Ku Klux Klan leader has denounced a fundraiser started by a fringe Klan group in South Carolina for Darren Wilson, the officer who shot Ferguson teen Michael Brown.
Imperial Wizard Chuck Murray, the leader of the New Empire Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, sent out an email last week asking for donations, which was obtained by the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Hatewatch blog.
“We are setting up a reward/fund for the police officer who shot this thug,” the email reads. “He is a hero! We need more white cops who are anti-Zog and willing to put Jewish controlled black thugs in their place. Most cops are cowards and do nothing while 90% of interracial crime is black (and non-white) on white.”
Murray did not return SPLC’s requests for comment.
However, Frank Acona, the Imperial Wizard of the Traditionalist American Knights, one of the largest Klan branches, disowned the group and condemned the fundraising effort.
Acona told The Wire that the fundraising email violates the Klan’s constitution, and that he doesn’t believe that Murray’s group is officially affiliated with the KKK. Ancona thinks Murray was banned from the Klan and has now started his own group.
“No one has ever heard of the guy, I talked to the older members of our group,” Ancona told The Wire. “There are other legitimate Klan organizations, but this group here sprang out in the last year or so I don’t believe he has any members. I think it’s just him.”
Murray’s email is also probably a scam, Ancona said, since members of the Klan are not allowed to speak with the media Only leaders of the group are cleared to communicate with reporters.
“It’s a scam, he is just trying to capitalize on the situation,” he said. “The Klan is not out soliciting money. We do ask for donations from members for different events, we have dues, but this is not the case here.”
Yet, Ancona told The Wire that he may consider helping Wilson once he has more information.
“Maybe we will do something to assist, once the justice system does its diligence. We may help around his home,” he said. “We would like to look at what they’re charging him with, what the police report says, to see what’s going on, and then we will decide if we will help him.”
He added that members of his group, which is based in Missouri, have been in Ferguson monitoring the situation.
Murray gave The Wire a brief statement on his fundraising effort.
“I could care less what another Imperial Wizard said. The KKK has raised funds. We have already raised nearly $1,200,” he said.
