Did anyone see in the news
 

The Deputy Chief of Police and another officer resigned from the Fruitland Park Police Department after an FBI investigation turned up evidence against both as active in the Ku Klux Klan. I came in on the end of the story so didn't get it in its entirety but I was surprised to know there was active KKK in this area...

There's a story on it here FDLE: 2 Fruitland Park police officers in KKK | Lake County

Frightening and disgusting!

I saw the Deputy Chief resigned within a few minutes of being accused of having KKK ties. I do not recall what happened to the other one. He should have been fired a long time ago. The paper said he had 5 letters of reprimand and 1 demotion.

Amazing that right next to a bubble of the diverse minded people of The Villages that the festering boil of racism of the KKK exists.

On one hand, it is discouraging to realize that such primitive forms of hatred still exist in the US.

On the other hand, a step in the right direction even if it took the FBI to make things happen when the local authorities dragged their feet.

This isn't the first time that the Fruitland Park police have had ties to the KKK. About 5 years ago, an officer was dismissed for distributing KKK material while on the job.

Good Riddance. I wonder if the owner of the new area recently annexed had some hand in getting this done.

Unfortunately, this is a true legacy of this area. Northern Lake County was a bastion of KKK activity. The aftermath of this can be found in many communities throughout Central Florida, especially when you spend time with some of the locals that are native to this area. Having grown up in a small town in Ohio, I was truly shielded from this type of hatred. I have had numerous conversations with older folks that remember vividly life around here under this cloud. So for me, this news was not a bit surprising.

Well I was pretty surprised. I didn't know the KKK was still really an organization other than the skinhead variety.

Sadly, the KKK is still very much around. Not just here but around the country. The only organization that I loathe more is the Neo-Nazi party. Anyone that spouts hatred because of race, religion, sexual orientation is a blight against humanity and those people should be hung by their short hairs (actually, I think boiling them in oil would be too kind).

That it took the FBI to get rid of these two officers says a lot for line Fruitland Park PD. It is a shame they didn't clean up their department on their own. Wonder how many others are at least KKK sympathesizers.

KKK membership sinks 2 Florida cops

That made USA Today.

http://www.history.com/topics/ku-klux-klan

It just seems incredibly intellectually lazy to judge people by their color, sexual preference, age, gender, economic status, etc.

Fruitland Park has a dubious record as far as racism. Back in the days of Jim Crow, Florida had a higher per capita rate of lynchings than any state in the union.

The Lake County sheriff until the 70s was a know KKK member. His last last name was McCall, I believe. I work with a lady that has some interesting stories to tell dating back to the Groveland incident. Sad.....

This provides a bit of a backdrop: Floridian: A Southern sheriff's law and disorder

If anyone is interested, there is a fantastic fictional book written based on true events Lay that Trumpet in Our Hands. It is based on the Groveland Case but really enlightens one to the storied past of the area.

The important thing is that they are gone. The guys who shouldn't have been in law enforcement. Good. Good riddance.

We don't live in old Florida. We live in The Villages. Everyplace in this country used to be more racist than it is now.

Thanks, sounds interesting.

Like I said.

Florida
City Chapter
Fraternal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan
Fort Myers Knight Riders Knights of the Ku Klux Klan
Live Oak Knight Riders Knights of the Ku Klux Klan
Cape Coral Ku Klos Knights of the Ku Klux Klan
New Smyrna Beach Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan
Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan
Christmas Fort Christmas Knights Ku Klux Klan

Such an awful shame to see people involved in the KKK !! They disgust me !!
Glad to see those officers go and any others who might be involved !!!

Everyone is showing their true colors on this thread.

Peacemakers and Pot stirrers. I am so glad they have vacated their jobs. That is a good thing for us locally.

I am so glad the OP brought it up, because it is GOOD NEWS indeed.

Maybe those two are out of work, but the organization is far from gone.

It's not just about blacks/racism, they also don't like Jews, Catholics and foreigners. They must hate the diversity of TV.

They are ugly and nasty folks for sure. The very mention of the name makes most of us deadly sick at heart.

Fortunately their numbers have gone way down.http://www.numberof.net/number-of-kkk-members-today/

I read the linked article with amazement and disgust. Like the OP, I was naively surprised to hear the KKK is still around. It's even more disturbing to hear it exists in local law enforcement agencies.

You're assuming they have an intellect to begin with, Tal.:mad:

Diversity???? Are you living in the same villages that I'm living in? It's so Lilly white it's pathetic . I see a few black people, most if not all Hispanic people are building houses. Any Muslims, Indian,Oriental,not many if at all. I haven't seen to many people of different races. Mostly white Americans !!!!!!

??????????

I have not witnessed any clan activity in The Villages. I doubt if it would be tolerated here. Let's hope not.

Yes, I see diversity, for me it's more than black/white/hispanic. Perhaps it's because I grew up in what you would classify as "Lilly White" I may have a different perception.

I see people from diverse backgrounds, religions, levels of education respecting one another. There is more to racism than planting a flaming cross on a front lawn. I couldn't tell you how many Muslims, Indians, Asians, Blacks or Hispanics are among us. How many Jews and Catholics? I don't see people in those terms, to wander around giving even an estimated count smacks of racism to me.

When we stick to the original topic, we all agree, and that's a good thing.

The KKK is alive and well in this area!! Read " the Devil in the Grove" (groveland)

Shades of Sheriff McCall

But no one I know and probably you know or knew in your lifetime would approve of them. Right?

The two police officers have been fired. Who knows who started the investigation but it is a very good thing. At one time in this country there were more than a million people who belonged to the KKK. Now there is about 8000. 8000 too many.

But we are heading in the right direction. Stirring up hate is wrong no matter who does it and for what reason.
http://www.numberof.net/number-of-kkk-members-today/

I hope it was someone in the Fruitland Park PD or FP's commissioners who alerted the FBI.

The FBI has been tracking the KKK since the early 1900s in order to prevent racial crimes. There's a several-part history of their involvement here: FBI — The FBI Versus the Klan, Part 1

It is far from going away. As a matter of fact, it may be getting worse:
9 Investigates the Ku Klux Klan | www.wftv.com
Florida KKK leader says law enforcement officers are drawn to his | www.palmbeachpost.com

It's one thing when ordinary citizens are fools and bigots, but when people in authority hold these ideals, that is a serious issue.
We were in an establishment, not even two miles from TV when a member in our party was engaged in a conversation closely resembling that of a Klansman. Became a very unsettling moment for us. Don't believe for a second that the "old South" is gone because the scars from that time are still fresh in many minds.

When racists are forced to be politicly correct by peer pressure, it just drives them underground. Let them speak so we know who and where they are.

Many many years ago, I watched an Oprah Winfrey show and she said: "It's impossible for anyone to grow up in this country without being racially biased." And I believe she was correct. We are not color blind: Most people will marry someone of their own race. But it's more than color, it's culture.

It would be great if we could know who belongs to the KKK but that will never happen for obvious reasons.

the only surprise here is there are so many who think organizations like KKK, ACLU et al don't exist.

Also the diversity issue of TV being diverse or not. All a fuction of the circle(s) one travels in....and of course an individuals definition of diversity.

The ones who live here black, brown, white, yellow, etc are the ones who like it and can afford the tab. It is as simple as that.

It is what it is and the mix is not related to anything except the facts of life and not some scheme for it to be one flavor or another.

I will stick to my hobby of measuring and categorizing the size of passing clouds....it is about the same effectiveness as measuring diversity and why/why not/etc.:icon_bored:

That may have been true in the time Oprah Winfrey grew up, but I will bet that there are many kids under 18 or so who are quite color blind. Some who are still very racist though. It really depends on teachers, friends, religious leaders and the like.

Recent events in FL of a somewhat political nature though certainly flamed a lot of bigots out of the woodwork. Probable because some national politicians were throwing lighter fluid on it.

From three million kkk members to from five to eight thousand is a huge advance. And you are right to have people in authority who are members is most heinous. It isn't getting worse. They got them OUT. That is a very GOOD thing. I bet The Villages annexing of part of Fruitland park may have in some way caused the investigation to happen.


You know that evil old Gary. He wouldn't think it was good for business.

I am just kidding folks on the last sentence. A new broom does sweep clean.