KKK Leader Missed His Own Trump Victory Parade After Stabbing Fellow Klansman at Planning Meeting

A KKK leader missed his own group's Trump victory parade after he was arrested for stabbing a fellow Klansman at a planning meeting.

Not Available Lead
Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Not Available Lead

After Donald Trump won the election, the Loyal White Knights, a Ku Klux Klan group in North Carolina, planned a victory rally. The victory parade, however, did not go as planned for a number of reasons. For one, the group's founder and Imperial Wizard, Chris Barker, wasn't there—he was in jail for stabbing a fellow Klansman in the chest the night before the rally.

Yep, 37-year-old Barker, along with fellow KKK member, 50-year-old William Hagen, stabbed their 47-year-old fellow Klansman Richard Dillon multiple times in the upper chest area during a Ku Klux Klan meeting at Barker's home. According to the Times-News, Barker "was encouraging the altercation between Hagen and Dillon" and even kicked Dillon when he was on the ground.

Barker has been charged with "one count Felony Aiding and Abetting Assault with a deadly weapon with Intent to Kill Inflicting Serious Injury," and Hagen was charged with "one count Felony Assault with a Deadly Weapon with Intent to Kill Inflicting Serious Injury," according to the Caswell County Sheriff's Office. Hagen is being held under a $350,000 secured bond, and Barker's being held under a $200,000 secured bond. Both men have a court appearance scheduled for Wednesday.

Originally, the KKK victory parade in Trump's honor was expected to take place in Pelham, North Carolina. While more than a hundred protesters showed up, the Klan did not—not there, at least.

However, in Roxboro, nearly 40 miles from Pelham, a parade of about 30 cars drove through downtown—without an audience—shouting "White power!" and "Hail victory!" out of the windows, according to the Times-News

While her husband was in jail, Barker's wife Amanda, who is also an "imperial kommander" in the KKK, told the Times-News, with regards to president-elect Donald Trump, "We actually kind of have the same views." She continued, "Actually a lot of white Americans actually felt the same way, especially about the wall, immigration and the terrorism coming here. I think Donald Trump is going to do some really good things and turn this country around."

Interestingly enough, even supporters of the Confederacy were among those protesting the Ku Klux Klan. Gary Williamson, the founder of Confederate heritage group Alamance County Taking Back Alamance County, told the News & Observer, "[The Klan] isn’t us. This ain’t nothing that we’re about." While most historians agree that the Confederacy cannot be separated from its white supremacy, Williamson claimed, "We support heritage and the positive parts of our history. As far as them [the KKK] and what they do, it isn’t part of our history. It’s sick and disgusting." So there's that.

The victory parade came along with a wave of hate incidents, which some are calling "The Trump Effect."

Latest in Life