Ignorance and hatred's dangerous trail

On Wednesday, a Kentucky jury saw the weapon used in a Ku Klux Klan assault on a 16-year-old boy: a pair of steel-toed black boots with bright red laces.

The boots played a key role in testimony during the first day of the civil trial against the leader of the Imperial Klans of America (IKA), one of the nation’s largest Klan organizations with 16 chapters in 8 states. The Southern Poverty Law Center filed a civil lawsuit against IKA leader Ron Edwards, contending that members of his group assaulted and severely injured Jordan Gruver in July 2006 at a county fair in Brandenburg, about 40 miles southwest of Louisville.

Gruver, a U.S.-born citizen of Panamanian descent, apparently was attacked because the Klansmen assumed he was “an illegal spic.” By suing Edwards and Jarred Hensley — a Klansman who acknowledged attacking Gruver — the SPLC hopes to win damages large enough to shut down one of America’s most dangerous Klan groups.

At the Meade County Courthouse in Brandenburg, boots with red laces were introduced into evidence during Joe Greer's testimony. Greer is a detective for the Meade County District Attorney’s Office, investigating the assault on Gruver. Greer used a magnet to demonstrate the boots had steel toes. He also testified they were the same boots Hensley wore the night he and another Klansman kicked Gruver, after knocking him to the ground.

SPLC lead trial attorney Morris Dees returned to the boots while questioning Edwards, who runs the IKA from his 15-acre compound in Dawson Springs, Ky. Edwards admitted that steel-toed boots are “the weapon of choice” for skinheads, which Edwards welcomed into his group, despite knowing their propensity for violence.

“What’s the significance of the red laces?” Dees asked.

“That means someone shed blood for their race.” Edwards replied.

Edwards, who spent about two-and-a-half hours on the stand today, sports several tattoos on his shaven head that were visible in the courtroom, including “F*** S.P.L.C.,” “Death to ZOG [Zionist-occupied government]” and “Aryan Justice.” Hensley also has tattoos including the word “violence” on his knuckles, “murder” below his neck, and a swastika on his arm.

Several supporters of Edwards and Hensley attended the trial, sometimes snickering during testimony. Some wore skinhead-style attire, including combat boots, red braces (suspenders) and white power emblems on their jackets.

During his opening statement and examination of Edwards, Dees painted a compelling picture of the Klan leader as a man motivated by money as much as by hate. Edwards admitted under oath that he appropriated money from IKA dues and merchandise sales for his own use. “The only rule he has is to make money for Ron Edwards,” Dees said.

Dees said Edwards required the Klansmen to recruit new members, yet failed to provide adequate supervision. “They were doing exactly what Ron Edwards had programmed them to do, exactly what he had directed them to do — and that is going out and recruiting members,” he said.

Edwards maintained that he obeys the law, even while serving as leader of the IKA. “I’m going to prove that I teach them not to go out and commit violence,” he said. “And I’ll also show that I did not even know they were there.”

Yet Dees later played a clipping from a National Geographic documentary in which Edwards said the opposite. “We can be very violent and we can be very deceptive and we will do whatever we have to do to survive.”

The trial continues today with Dees’ further questioning of Edwards.

Meanwhile, the ignorant Ku Klux Klan tries to spread hate, then commits murder.

And in Afghanistan, Taliban members weilding toy pistols filled with acid target girls on their way to school.

This news helps put everything else into perspective, doesn't it?

On a brighter note, some interesting information about how songbirds learn to sing.

Comments

[tinker]

I hadn't read of this trial till now - granted I've not been following the news as much, since the election and NaNoWriMo began - but I can't believe it hadn't been more prominent in the news before this -- I'm so glad you continue to shed light on news stories such as this...But I'm also so incredibly saddened, that such atrocities are still being committed in hatred - I really hoped by the time we arrived in the 21st century, racism would have been extinguished. Our election has given me renewed hope - but then reading a news story like this, I realize we still have so far yet to go...

[Brenda Kula]

I hadn't even heard of these people in quite awhile. And I read everything I can get my hands on. Either I've missed these things, or thought they were on the decline. Unfortunately, hate does not take a holiday. May our new president be safe. I hate to think we're not any more evolved than that.
Brenda

[Christina]

This is sad! Thank you for getting the word to us.

[Colette]

I believe self-hatred motivates these people. Self-hatred projected onto others. They have to be fought every step of the way. I also believe it's the handful of right-thinking people who keep the human race from destruction: A handful of good people weighs much more than an oceanful of bad.

xox

[Helen]

Extremely unsettling, to say the least, and entirely disheartening.