EVIL CULT KILLERS (True Crime)

by Ray Black

  The Ku Klux Klan tore across the war-ravaged South on a mission to intimidate and destroy the Reconstruction governments from the Carolinas to Arkansas. Their main targets were the blacks, and their main goal was to stop them from voting, holding office, or exercising their new, undeserved rights in any way. Also targeted however, were immigrants, and any white people who were standing up for, or sympathetic to, black rights.

  The KKK frightened their targets by burning crosses within view of the victim’s home. If this had no effect, then they would attack – torturing, beating, and murdering. They justified this as an essential course of action in the name of white supremacy and to protect and keep the white race pure. The Klansmen dressed in white robes with pointed hoods which covered their faces, supposedly symbolising the ghosts of dead soldiers who had returned to avenge their defeat.

  THE ORIGINS OF THE KU KLUX KLAN

  A group of former Confederate army members established the original group in 1865, in Pulaski, Tennessee. Originally set up as more of a social club, there was nothing sinister about the first few gatherings of what the young men eventually decided to call the ‘Ku Klux Klan’. They chose the name from the Greek word ‘kuklos’ meaning ‘circle’, and the English word ‘clan’. They also decided to keep it a secret society, to make it more exciting. They gave the ranks of the society ridiculous names – Grand Cyclops, Grand Turk etc. – just to amuse themselves.

  Any new members (or ‘Ghouls’ as they were called within the Klan) whom the group managed to recruit, were subjected to an initiation ceremony. This was a farcical procedure, involving the entrant being blindfolded, sworn in with silly oaths, and finally ‘crowned’. The members all went out on horseback, dressed in sheets, with masks covering their faces. These were the very silly, and innocent beginnings of something which was to become deadly serious.

  EXPANSION OF THE KU KLUX KLAN

  The group began to grow, and attracted more members from adjacent neighbourhoods. The cloaked excursions became more frequent and more sinister. They would arrive at the homes of black people late at night, and give them dark warnings of more visits if they did not keep a low profile. The blacks, with their new-found freedom, ignored these warnings, and soon the threats turned into actual violence. Although the blacks were the main target of these attacks, the Klan also turned on anyone who supported black rights, Northerners who had come south, or southern unionists.

  In 1867, all members of the ever-increasing Ku Klux Klan were asked to send representatives to a convention, presided over by ‘Grand Wizard’ General Nathan Bedford Forrest (a brilliant general in the Civil War), held in Nashville. The main objective of the convention was to discuss the Klan’s response to, and encourage the opposition of, the Reconstruction effort to integrate the blacks and allow them voting rights. By now, the KKK had thousands of members all eager to further the cause and uphold white supremacy.

  However, many new recruits felt uneasy about the group’s activities, as did the long-standing members who were seeing the changes within the structure of the Klan. They were unhappy about the higher level of brutality, and felt that the balance had shifted since the Klan’s beginnings. They were all fully supportive of the Klan’s cause and agreed with terrorizing and intimidating the blacks into submission, but could not agree with the nightly rampages, robberies, rapes and murders being committed in their name.

  The Reconstruction governors soon realized that this was a problem they had to address urgently. They did not however, appreciate the size of the organization they were trying to suppress. Government spies who tried to infiltrate the group were murdered by the Klan, who had been tipped off by insiders in advance. The Klan were more prolific than anyone had imagined, and the secret nature of the organization made it almost impossible to penetrate. Unbeknown to those trying to crack down on the KKK, their own colleagues were often riding out, terrorizing the towns, with the masked night riders.

  When federal control of the ex-Confederate states was retracted, the whites were able to regain control and re-introduce segregation anyway. Therefore in 1869, with the main objective achieved, Forrest dissolved the Klan as he too felt that it had become increasingly violent and had abandoned its original goals in the pursuit of sheer anarchy.

  Further, when President Ulysses Grant, under pressure from the Radical Republicans to do something about the terror and violence perpetrated by the KKK, signed the Klan Act and Enforcement Act in 1871, it was believed that the KKK would disappear forever. The report by the Federal Grand Jury stated that:

  There has existed since 1868, in many counties of the state, an organization known as the Ku Klux Klan, or Invisible Empire of the South, which embraces in its membership a large proportion of the white population of every profession and class. The Klan has a constitution and bylaws, which provides, among other things, that each member shall furnish himself with a pistol, a Ku Klux gown and a signal instrument. The operations of the Klan are executed in the night and are invariably directed against members of the Republican Party. The Klan is inflicting summary vengeance on the colored citizens of these citizens by breaking into their houses at the dead of night, dragging them from their beds, torturing them in the most inhuman manner, and in many instances murdering.

  It made the KKK an illegal organization and allowed the use of force to quash any strains of the group and any activities it engaged in. This was phenomenally successful. The Klan was completely dissolved in South Carolina, and membership in other states reduced to virtually none. Although the Klan Act was eventually declared unconstitutional in 1882, it was too late for the organization to recover.

  RE-EMERGENCE OF THE KU KLUX KLAN

  But the KKK never completely died, and with the outbreak of World War I, it was set to re-emerge. William J. Simmons re-formed the group in 1915. He was a preacher, who had been greatly influenced by the Thomas Dixon book, The Ku Klux Klan, and the film subsequently made of the book, Birth of A Nation.

  Greatly affected by Nazi propaganda in Germany, many US citizens began to blame not only the blacks, but also the Jews, and other immigrant groups, for their economic troubles. They also targeted homosexuals, communists and organized labour. Arguably in an attempt simply to make money, Simmons took advantage of these feelings of hostility towards such groups, and established a 20th century version of the Ku Klux Klan. Where the first KKK had been southern and of Democratic persuasion, this second version attracted both Democrats and Republicans from all over the country. Regardless of their different political beliefs they were united in their hostility towards the slaves and foreigners who were detrimental to the welfare of their white nation.

  The list of those despised and victimised by the Klan grew ever longer. Klansmen were sent out to uncover society’s fears and exploit them in an attempt to attract new members. Targets now included anyone who disrespected the Sabbath, had or condoned sex outside of marriage, dealt in drugs and ran or frequented night-clubs. Membership flooded in as law-abiding US citizens looked to the KKK to purge society of all its evils. At a cost of $10 per person, the money poured in too.

  A greatly influential group, this organisation had over four million members at its highest point. In the 1920s, Klansmen were even occupying positions of political power. Should any members of the KKK have been arrested for their violent crimes, the southern courts were very unlikely to return a guilty verdict. The authorities turned a blind eye to the Klan’s activities, even when reports were coming in of the letters ‘KKK’ being burnt, with acid, on to the faces of anyone considered anti-American.

  A brave media eventually faced up to the Klan, but reports of immoral behaviour and corruption within the Klan headquarters and the brutal violence perpetrated by them, seemed simply to encourage more people to join. Simmons recognized this, and could give no explanation for it, but welcomed it whole-heartedly. Congress investigated further, but Simmons merely denied any knowledge of the violence, and explained the secretive nature of the group as being a fea
ture no different from that of any other fraternal organization.

  LEADERSHIP DISPUTE

  The Klan’s growth surge led to revolts within the organization, and eventually Simmons’s leadership was overthrown by Hiram Wesley Evans and six co-conspirators. The KKK had now amassed a great fortune and owned property valued at millions of dollars. Simmons was not willing to let this go so easily, and a massive court battle exploded. When one of Simmons’s lawyers was shot by Evans’s publicity chief following a heated argument, Simmons backed down and agreed to a cash settlement.

  Although this struggle was over, it had badly damaged the group. The internal organization of the Klan had been laid bare for the courts, the media and the public to examine, and the secrets of the group had been exposed. What was supposed to be a non-profit organization was clearly making huge amounts of money, and the claims of immorality made against both parties by each other directly contradicted the declaration of the KKK that it existed to protect the morals and the purity of America.

  The continued reports of violence did not escape the public’s notice either. Men, women and children were being flogged by the KKK for immoral crimes such as missing church, or defending those who did. One divorced woman received a beating simply for remarrying, and young girls were frequently flogged if caught riding in cars with boys.

  Yet still the popularity of the KKK appeared to grow and it advanced further politically. Klansmen appeared in the US Senate, and were elected to governors. Evans decided it was time to for the KKK presence to be felt in the presidential elections. He had supporters in both the Republican and Democratic parties and so felt confident that he could influence the government whichever party was elected.

  DECLINE OF THE KU KLUX KLAN

  But the KKK presence on such a high-profile political stage pulled the traditionally secretive Klan right into the public arena, and there they encountered as much hostility as they did support. More and more graphic news stories detailing the atrocities perpetrated by the Klan hit the headlines and this time they could not be ignored. One report detailed how a Texas man had been dowsed in oil and burned before hundreds of Klan members. Membership figures, formerly in their millions, dropped to hundreds of thousands.

  The Great Depression of the 1930s saw a further reduction in membership figures and the remaining members were advised to keep a relatively low profile and stay out of the public eye. The diminishing Klan funds were hoarded by Evans and his circle.

  In 1939, James A. Colescott took over leadership of the Klan, but he was to preside over it for only five years. The end for this second KKK followed a combination of events. The first was the shocking reports of a rape and murder committed by the ‘Grand Dragon’ of Indiana. The woman he attacked had been so badly bitten that the assault was viewed by some as cannibalistic. This stunned the nation and the KKK once again declined.

  The final blow came with a lien filed by the Internal Revenue Service for a sum of over $685,000 of back taxes accrued from profits gained in the 1920s. The Klan was forced to sell all its assets in 1944, hand over any monies to the government, and cease its activities.

  SPLINTER GROUPS

  The Ku Klux Klan appeared again in the 1960s, but this time forming as several offshoots instead of one united body. Their main aim was to oppose the civil rights movement. With the increase in racial tolerance across the US though, these bodies, the biggest of which were the Imperial Klans of America, the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, and Knights of the White Kamelia, were driven underground. Yet, they still struck fear into the hearts of the black communities. In Mississippi for example, where 42 per cent of the population were black, only 2 per cent registered to vote.

  The Congress of Racial Equality and another organization campaigning non-violently for black Americans, decided to concentrate their efforts in Mississippi and set up 30 ‘Freedom Schools’ across the state. Over 3,000 students attended these schools, which now taught black history and the civil rights movement as part of their curriculum.

  The schools became an obvious target for the KKK, as did those who had organized them and were campaigning for black rights. Their homes and churches were firebombed, and they were attacked and beaten. Three were murdered.

  SIXTEENTH STREET BAPTIST CHURCH BOMBING

  The KKK, in its various guises, was also still evading conviction for its crimes in the 1960s, even though some were so shocking that they made national headlines. One such case was the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Bombing. On

  the morning of September 15, 1963, a bomb exploded underneath the church, killing four teenage girls and injuring 23 other people who had been attending the Sunday School held there.

  A man, identified as Robert Chambliss, had been witnessed at the scene earlier that morning. He had placed a box under the steps of the church. Although arrested for murder and for illegal possession of explosives (122 sticks of dynamite), he was only found guilty on the second charge. He was given a fine and sentenced to six months in prison, but walked free on the murder charge.

  Only 14 years later, in 1977, was Chambliss finally brought to justice for his crime. When Bill Baxley was appointed attorney general in Alabama, he requested the FBI files on the case and found masses of evidence against Chambliss which had been ignored at the trial. In November 1977, Chambliss was re-tried, convicted, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Another 25 years later, three more men were accused of having been involved in the bombing with Chambliss. The four men belonged to a KKK faction called the Cahaba Boys. One of the three had died, and one of the remaining two was given a life sentence.

  MICHAEL DONALD

  When a black man was taken to court in 1981 for the murder of a white policeman and released by an undecided jury, the KKK was outraged. They blamed the verdict on the fact that some of the jury were black, and decided to bring about their own justice by killing a black man in return. Henry Hays, the son of one of the most senior Klan officials in Alabama, and his friend James Knowles, searched the streets of Mobile until they found their target – a young black man named Michael Donald. Donald was forced into their car, driven out of the county and murdered.

  A half-hearted investigation into the murder by local police came to the conclusion that the murder was the result of a botched drug deal. The case, as far as they were concerned, was then closed. Donald’s mother however, who knew that her son had absolutely no involvement in drugs, called upon Jessie Jackson for help. He came to Mobile and organized a protest march about the injustice served.

  The case came to the attention of the assistant United States attorney in Mobile, and he raised his concerns with the FBI. Under FBI investigation, James Knowles confessed to Michael Donald’s murder. He was given life imprisonment. He was also called as chief prosecution witness at Henry Hays’s trial six months later, wherein Hays was was found guilty and given the death penalty for the crime.

  Michael Donald’s mother went even further in her pursuit of justice for her son, and for all African Americans. She set out to bring down the Ku Klux Klan in Alabama. She filed a civil suit against the Klan in 1987, which resulted in an all-white jury finding the Klan, as a body, responsible for her son’s death. The Alabama Klan was ordered to pay seven million dollars.

  THE KKK TODAY

  The KKK is viewed by society as a racist, ignorant, violent and homophobic organization. The name of the KKK is immediately associated with crime. The Klan defends itself by attacking the members of the movement who commit the crimes. They, it claims, are not true members and joined the Klan for the wrong reasons.

  However, the fact remains that they are still affiliated to this group. They attack blacks in the street, set fire to black churches, burn crosses in front of their houses and hang nooses above their doors. Media reports frequently describe murders linked to the KKK.

  Generally, the name is now symbolic of hatred, racial fanaticism and bigotry. The group is unlikely ever to be able to rise above this status. It has neither the backin
g of society nor any kind of financial support to push it towards any kind of political credibility.

  The Thugs Of India

  19th Century cult worshipping Kali – the Goddess of destruction

  in 19th century India there was a criminal gang who were called the Thugs. The Thugs were members of Thuggee (tuggee), a religious Indian cult that worshiped Kali.

  Kali is the destructive and creative mother goddess of Hinduism. She is seen as the fierce aspect of God’s energy and is fundamental to all of the other Hindu Gods. Kali, the Hindu word for black, is seen as the opposite to Shiva but at the same time Shiva needs her to exist. In certain forms Kali is Shiva’s wife.

  The Thugs were mainly found in the Vidarbha region of India, in the Central West, and although they worshiped a Hindu goddess, many cult members were Muslim – all were male. Access to the cult was hereditary and would be passed down from father to son and most of the time the women family members would be ignorant to what went on.

  The original mission of the Thugs was to murder and then steal from their victims as sacrifices to their Goddess Kali. The unlucky victim would always be an affluent Indian man travelling for the purpose of business or a celebration such as a wedding. This class choice was because the Thugs believed that the Brahams, who were the top and wealthiest caste in India, were enemies of Kali and therefore had to be exterminated.

  The Thugs were a well-oiled machine. They would work in groups of between 20 and 100 and each individual of the group would have a specific role. The ‘lughaees’ would prepare the graves, the ‘sothaees’ would lure travellers and the ‘bhuttotes’ performed the ritualistic murders. Even Thugs who were either too old or infirm to take part in the actual murder would still have a role. They would act as spies and cooks and would find out when a wealthy party were due to pass.