1 00:00:01,680 --> 00:00:09,880 Speaker 1: Cool Zone media. As the sun began to set on 2 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:13,399 Speaker 1: a cool fall evening in late September nineteen ninety one, 3 00:00:14,320 --> 00:00:17,520 Speaker 1: TV reporter Harold Spiegel was waiting nervously at the edge 4 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:19,840 Speaker 1: of the woods outside of a small town about an 5 00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:23,840 Speaker 1: hour south of the nation's capital. The reporter was waiting 6 00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:28,120 Speaker 1: for more information about their destination. That evening. He'd received 7 00:00:28,120 --> 00:00:30,920 Speaker 1: a tip about an event and managed to secure a 8 00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:32,800 Speaker 1: meeting with some of the men who would be attending. 9 00:00:34,320 --> 00:00:37,280 Speaker 1: They wouldn't tell him exactly where they were going, but 10 00:00:37,360 --> 00:00:40,680 Speaker 1: after a short discussion in a parking lot, they allowed 11 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:44,960 Speaker 1: him to follow along. He drove deeper and deeper into 12 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:48,120 Speaker 1: the countryside for half an hour before the men parked 13 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:52,600 Speaker 1: at the edge of the forest and got out. More 14 00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:57,160 Speaker 1: men arrived. Some were wearing white robes and pointed hoods, 15 00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:02,120 Speaker 1: the traditional garb of members of the ku Klux. Others 16 00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:06,040 Speaker 1: wore motorcycle jackets with SS patches on them and unfrilled 17 00:01:06,080 --> 00:01:10,960 Speaker 1: flags and banners with swastivas. And then he followed them 18 00:01:10,959 --> 00:01:15,360 Speaker 1: into the woods. The reporter, alone in the woods with 19 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:18,800 Speaker 1: a few dozen Nazis and clansmen, knew what these men 20 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:22,400 Speaker 1: were capable of. A nearby town was in the throes 21 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:25,560 Speaker 1: of a week long pogrom, with gangs of young Neo 22 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:28,560 Speaker 1: Nazis laying siege to apartment buildings that were home to 23 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:34,280 Speaker 1: Vietnamese and Mozambique immigrants. In a clearing, the men surrounded 24 00:01:34,319 --> 00:01:38,840 Speaker 1: a large wooden cross as it burned. A man in 25 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:41,560 Speaker 1: a leather jacket adorned with SS ruins stood in the 26 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:46,280 Speaker 1: center of the circle and shouted, seeghaile I come to 27 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:52,080 Speaker 1: you from America. The cross was burning an hour south 28 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:59,080 Speaker 1: of the nation's capital, but the capitol in question was Berlin, Missouri. 29 00:01:59,120 --> 00:02:01,800 Speaker 1: Clansmen Dennis Mahon was at the height of his career 30 00:02:01,840 --> 00:02:05,720 Speaker 1: as a professional racist. He had formed his own clan group, 31 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:08,640 Speaker 1: the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, and he 32 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:12,040 Speaker 1: was Tom Metzker's right hand man in the White Aryan Resistance. 33 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:16,600 Speaker 1: His trip to Germany promised to strengthen international ties between 34 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:20,160 Speaker 1: hate groups in Europe and the United States. From the 35 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:23,320 Speaker 1: time he joined the Klan in nineteen eighty, his life 36 00:02:23,400 --> 00:02:26,600 Speaker 1: story is inextricably intertwined with the history of the white 37 00:02:26,600 --> 00:02:30,399 Speaker 1: power movement. He made summer time visits to the Aryan 38 00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:34,880 Speaker 1: Nation's compound in Idaho. He ran paramilitary training drills on 39 00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:38,400 Speaker 1: a compound in Missouri. He was hauled into court to 40 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:42,440 Speaker 1: testifying grand jury proceedings about the Oklahoma City bombing after 41 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:45,040 Speaker 1: a former girlfriend accused him of helping plan the attack, 42 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:49,200 Speaker 1: and by the time the FBI hired an exotic dancer 43 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:51,880 Speaker 1: to seduce him into confessing to mailing a pipe bomb 44 00:02:51,919 --> 00:02:55,920 Speaker 1: to a public library in Scottsdale, Arizona, he was an 45 00:02:55,919 --> 00:03:03,120 Speaker 1: old man that the movement had mostly forgotten. I'm Molly Conger. 46 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:24,520 Speaker 1: This it's weird, little guys. Last week, I said, I 47 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:27,880 Speaker 1: wasn't sure if Dennis Mahon ever did try his hand 48 00:03:27,919 --> 00:03:32,400 Speaker 1: at producing his own public access television program. He was 49 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:35,360 Speaker 1: just a brief side character and a larger story about 50 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:38,360 Speaker 1: Tom Metzger, a klansman and the founder of the white 51 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:43,560 Speaker 1: supremacist group White Arean Resistance. Metzger had received a generous 52 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:47,160 Speaker 1: gift in nineteen eighty four three hundred thousand dollars in 53 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:50,320 Speaker 1: cash from the members of the Order proceeds from their 54 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:54,720 Speaker 1: armored car robbery earlier that year, and almost immediately after 55 00:03:54,840 --> 00:03:58,680 Speaker 1: Metzger got this massive cash and fusion, he set to 56 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:03,080 Speaker 1: work producing a virulin racist television show called Race and Reason. 57 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:07,240 Speaker 1: His goal was to get his racist propaganda into the 58 00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:10,400 Speaker 1: home of every working class white man in America by 59 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:15,680 Speaker 1: way of public access TV. Across the country, Metzger supporters 60 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:19,039 Speaker 1: dutifully ordered VHS tapes of the show and applied to 61 00:04:19,080 --> 00:04:22,840 Speaker 1: broadcast it on their own local channels. Others took up 62 00:04:22,839 --> 00:04:25,719 Speaker 1: the cause and produced their own original versions based on 63 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:29,960 Speaker 1: Metzger's idea. One of the men who did both was 64 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:35,440 Speaker 1: a klansman in Missouri named Dennis Mahon. I didn't set 65 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:38,760 Speaker 1: out to write about Dennis this week. I had something 66 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:42,800 Speaker 1: else in mind, but I asked myself a question last week. 67 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:50,239 Speaker 1: Did Dennis ever actually produce a show called Clansis City Cable. 68 00:04:51,680 --> 00:04:54,800 Speaker 1: We didn't have time last week for another tangent to 69 00:04:54,839 --> 00:04:57,760 Speaker 1: find out about this. I was following Tom Metzger and 70 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:02,440 Speaker 1: the Stolen money, but I just can't leave an itch 71 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:08,680 Speaker 1: like that unscratched. And it turns out he did and 72 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:14,520 Speaker 1: I found it. A single fifteen minute episode of Klansas 73 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:18,679 Speaker 1: City Cable aired in Kansas City, Missouri, on April third, 74 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:20,160 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety. 75 00:05:22,400 --> 00:05:27,440 Speaker 2: We're going to discuss Klansas City Cable, which took two 76 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:33,680 Speaker 2: and a half years, a sweat blood persecution, getting five 77 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:39,880 Speaker 2: more jobs, getting harassed by fence, bomb shot at, assaulted 78 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:43,560 Speaker 2: death threats constantly. Well we've succeeded. 79 00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:52,360 Speaker 1: Just a quick note on pronunciation. Dennis's last name, maho 80 00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:57,039 Speaker 1: n can be pronounced a variety of ways. It's a 81 00:05:57,200 --> 00:05:59,400 Speaker 1: common enough name, and I'm sure a lot of people 82 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:03,000 Speaker 1: say it a lot different ways. I've chosen the pronunciation 83 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:06,320 Speaker 1: used by his attorney in a twenty fifteen oral argument 84 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:11,480 Speaker 1: before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Good morning, mister 85 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:13,320 Speaker 1: Chief Judge Thomas, and may it plays the court. 86 00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:14,440 Speaker 3: I'm Daniel Cablan. 87 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:21,560 Speaker 1: I represent the appellant, Dennis Mayhon. Identical twin brothers, Daniel 88 00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:24,920 Speaker 1: and Dennis Mayhon were born in Illinois in nineteen fifty. 89 00:06:26,440 --> 00:06:29,599 Speaker 1: After high school, they both found their way into military service. 90 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:33,479 Speaker 1: Daniel served in the US Navy and the Coast Guard 91 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:38,160 Speaker 1: from nineteen seventy to nineteen seventy nine, and Dennis was 92 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:41,960 Speaker 1: definitely in the Florida National Guard in the early eighties. 93 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:46,400 Speaker 1: I know that, and a lot of sources indicate that 94 00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:50,000 Speaker 1: he spent time in the Army in the seventies, including 95 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:53,360 Speaker 1: a tour in Vietnam, but I can't find that actually 96 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:56,520 Speaker 1: sourced to anything in particular It's just repeated a lot, 97 00:06:56,760 --> 00:07:02,200 Speaker 1: often by Dennis himself. Both brothers trained as and became 98 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:07,120 Speaker 1: aircraft mechanics classified ads in Miami in nineteen seventy two 99 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:09,080 Speaker 1: showed that brothers were making a little money on the 100 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:14,200 Speaker 1: side teaching flying lessons. By his own account, Dennis Mahon 101 00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:17,400 Speaker 1: was already a klansman by nineteen eighty, which is the 102 00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:22,160 Speaker 1: year he joined National Alliance. William Luther Pierce's novel The 103 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:25,440 Speaker 1: Turner Diaries was published in nineteen seventy eight, and it 104 00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:28,320 Speaker 1: was often sold at gun shows, which is probably where 105 00:07:28,360 --> 00:07:32,239 Speaker 1: Dennis picked up a copy in nineteen eighty. The book 106 00:07:32,320 --> 00:07:35,800 Speaker 1: was eye opening, but what he claims really radicalized him 107 00:07:35,840 --> 00:07:41,160 Speaker 1: that year was the Maurial boat Lift. For six months 108 00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:44,320 Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty, there was a mass exodus from Cuba. 109 00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:48,920 Speaker 1: By October, an estimated one hundred and twenty five thousand 110 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:53,080 Speaker 1: Cubans and twenty five thousand Haitians arrived in South Florida. 111 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:59,000 Speaker 1: In May of nineteen eighty alone, eighty six thousand Cuban 112 00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:04,720 Speaker 1: emigrants reached Florida during that chaotic month. Dennis Mahon was 113 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:07,400 Speaker 1: one of the Florida National Guardsmen assigned to assist in 114 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:12,760 Speaker 1: transporting the asylum seekers to processing centers. In an interview 115 00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:17,040 Speaker 1: with Matthew Kennard for his book Irregular Army, Maihon refers 116 00:08:17,080 --> 00:08:22,200 Speaker 1: to that time period as quote the Haitian invasion, though 117 00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:24,880 Speaker 1: in all likelihood the vast majority of the people he 118 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:31,120 Speaker 1: interacted with that month were Cuban. Regardless, he was repulsed 119 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:34,200 Speaker 1: by these people that he had been deployed to help. 120 00:08:35,800 --> 00:08:39,560 Speaker 1: An older interview, one from nineteen eighty eight, attributes this 121 00:08:39,720 --> 00:08:44,800 Speaker 1: shift in attitude to just being in Miami at all, saying, quote, 122 00:08:45,679 --> 00:08:50,480 Speaker 1: all the brown skinned, Spanish speaking people made him feel 123 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:55,280 Speaker 1: like a stranger in his own land. He was already 124 00:08:55,360 --> 00:08:58,600 Speaker 1: a klansman by then, so you can't really call this 125 00:08:58,679 --> 00:09:03,520 Speaker 1: the origin story of his racism. But in his mind, 126 00:09:04,440 --> 00:09:09,120 Speaker 1: this is where things changed. Something had to be done 127 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:15,800 Speaker 1: about this, and then he goes dark. There is not 128 00:09:15,960 --> 00:09:20,520 Speaker 1: a single trace of Dennis Mayhon in the early to 129 00:09:20,559 --> 00:09:25,320 Speaker 1: mid eighties. I was tearing my hair out trying to 130 00:09:25,360 --> 00:09:30,600 Speaker 1: find any evidence that he even existed after his thirtieth birthday. 131 00:09:31,520 --> 00:09:34,240 Speaker 1: I tried all my usual tricks, and I came up 132 00:09:34,280 --> 00:09:38,640 Speaker 1: empty handed. He was driving refugees to detention centers in 133 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:43,360 Speaker 1: Miami in May of nineteen eighty and then nothing. He's 134 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:45,920 Speaker 1: a ghost until he turns up in Kansas City in 135 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:50,079 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty seven, suddenly emerging as a clan leader of 136 00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:54,640 Speaker 1: some influence. In a nineteen ninety one interview with a 137 00:09:54,679 --> 00:09:59,000 Speaker 1: reporter from the Oklahoma and Mayhan says I was underground 138 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:03,680 Speaker 1: from eighty t eighty seven. He'd spent those years doing 139 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:08,880 Speaker 1: things he can't talk about, things he can't do anymore 140 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:11,880 Speaker 1: now that he's a leader in the movement, telling the reporter, 141 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:16,240 Speaker 1: I don't regret doing them, but I realize I can't 142 00:10:16,320 --> 00:10:20,079 Speaker 1: do those kinds of things now. And this wasn't a 143 00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:24,800 Speaker 1: one off comment. It wasn't bluster and bravado for a 144 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:28,960 Speaker 1: newspaper reporter, because I have a matching statement that he 145 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:32,760 Speaker 1: made eighteen years later. And he didn't know he had 146 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:37,560 Speaker 1: an audience that time. In two thousand and nine, on 147 00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:41,480 Speaker 1: a line he didn't know was tapped, Dennis Mayhon was 148 00:10:41,600 --> 00:10:46,000 Speaker 1: arguing with a friend, Charles Denman. Kunz, a member of 149 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:48,679 Speaker 1: the Kuhn's family that founded the first National Bank of Omaha, 150 00:10:49,520 --> 00:10:52,400 Speaker 1: is described by an ATF agent in court documents as 151 00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:56,400 Speaker 1: quote a white supremacist and a friend of Dennis Mayhon, 152 00:10:57,760 --> 00:11:00,480 Speaker 1: and he had been providing financial assistance to the Mayhon 153 00:11:00,559 --> 00:11:04,160 Speaker 1: brothers for some time. In two thousand and nine, he 154 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:06,800 Speaker 1: was concerned that a woman Dennis had grown close to 155 00:11:07,720 --> 00:11:12,520 Speaker 1: maybe lying to him. Koons was right, of course, that 156 00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:14,959 Speaker 1: woman that he was worried about worked for the FBI, 157 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:20,040 Speaker 1: but Dennis didn't want to believe that. In a rage 158 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:24,439 Speaker 1: on that recorded line, he said, you don't know how 159 00:11:24,480 --> 00:11:27,199 Speaker 1: many pipe bombs I've lit off. You don't know how 160 00:11:27,200 --> 00:11:30,040 Speaker 1: many transformers I've destroyed and put people out of power 161 00:11:30,240 --> 00:11:35,040 Speaker 1: in the eighties until I got outed in other recorded 162 00:11:35,040 --> 00:11:38,480 Speaker 1: conversations with that FBI informant that Kons had grown so 163 00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:43,320 Speaker 1: wary of Dennis Mayhon claims that he bombed an abortion clinic, 164 00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:48,160 Speaker 1: a Jewish community center, and various government offices during that 165 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:53,080 Speaker 1: time period, but no concrete allegations have been made about 166 00:11:53,240 --> 00:11:59,040 Speaker 1: his involvement in any particular incident. What is consistent is 167 00:11:59,080 --> 00:12:03,520 Speaker 1: the time period from nineteen eighty to nineteen eighty seven. 168 00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:09,719 Speaker 1: He's a ghost, a ghost in a white robe. In 169 00:12:09,800 --> 00:12:12,520 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty seven, he appears again in the public record, 170 00:12:12,679 --> 00:12:16,720 Speaker 1: and with quite a splash. He's not just a clansman. 171 00:12:17,640 --> 00:12:22,400 Speaker 1: He's a very important clansman. Maybe whatever he did during 172 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:25,760 Speaker 1: those years underground gave him the credibility he needed in 173 00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:29,360 Speaker 1: the movement to emerge fully formed as a public face, 174 00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:34,040 Speaker 1: a man of some authority and influence, because by the 175 00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:39,000 Speaker 1: time he resurfaces, he's the King Klegal for the Missouri 176 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:43,400 Speaker 1: Nights of the Ku Klux Klan. Now, if you remember 177 00:12:43,440 --> 00:12:47,280 Speaker 1: your clan vocabulary from the Very Black episodes, a klegal 178 00:12:48,120 --> 00:12:53,040 Speaker 1: is a local clan recruitment officer, but a King klegal 179 00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:58,000 Speaker 1: is kind of like a clan regional manager. So he's 180 00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:02,560 Speaker 1: overseeing the recruitment f by other legals in Missouri, and 181 00:13:02,640 --> 00:13:07,640 Speaker 1: he's managing the clan's affairs in the state. In nineteen 182 00:13:07,679 --> 00:13:11,800 Speaker 1: eighty eight, the Kansas City Stars Star magazine ran a 183 00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:17,599 Speaker 1: lengthy feature story profiling j Allan Moran and exalted Cyclocks 184 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:21,480 Speaker 1: with the Missouri Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Between 185 00:13:21,640 --> 00:13:26,120 Speaker 1: full page photos of a glowering clansman in his full regalia, 186 00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:30,880 Speaker 1: Veteran reporter Bill Norton wove the tale of a Platte 187 00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:35,120 Speaker 1: County cop who radicalized quickly losing his job and getting 188 00:13:35,160 --> 00:13:52,719 Speaker 1: recruited into the Klan by Dennis Mayhon In nineteen eighty seven. 189 00:13:53,240 --> 00:13:56,439 Speaker 1: Jay Alan Moran's first encounter with Dennis Mayhon, at a 190 00:13:56,520 --> 00:13:59,480 Speaker 1: Christian identity church in Missouri in the spring of nineteen 191 00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:02,800 Speaker 1: eighty seven is the first place I find him again 192 00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:07,200 Speaker 1: after the underground years, and he's just arrived in Missouri 193 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:10,320 Speaker 1: to take on the role of King Kleagel after some 194 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:15,880 Speaker 1: time organizing new clan chapters in Oklahoma and Michigan. J 195 00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:18,800 Speaker 1: Allen Moran was still an officer of the law when 196 00:14:18,800 --> 00:14:21,440 Speaker 1: he showed up at that church, which made a lot 197 00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:26,800 Speaker 1: of people uneasy. It was Dennis Mayhon's responsibility to feel 198 00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:31,680 Speaker 1: him out. Was this newcomer a true believer or a threat? 199 00:14:33,120 --> 00:14:36,240 Speaker 1: But the two men became close friends, bonding over their 200 00:14:36,280 --> 00:14:40,920 Speaker 1: shared love of the white race. Early in their friendship, 201 00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:44,640 Speaker 1: Mayhon told Miran that he'd been a suspect in bombings 202 00:14:44,680 --> 00:14:48,240 Speaker 1: in at least three different cities, though if he told 203 00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:51,240 Speaker 1: Miran which ones, Moran didn't repeat that to the reporter. 204 00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:55,480 Speaker 1: And it appears that agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, 205 00:14:55,480 --> 00:14:59,240 Speaker 1: Tobacco and Firearms the kind of agents who might investigate 206 00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:03,600 Speaker 1: a serial bomber. We're keeping an eye on Mayhon because 207 00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:07,120 Speaker 1: about six months into their friendship, j Alan Moran was 208 00:15:07,160 --> 00:15:12,520 Speaker 1: called into his boss's office. Flat City Police Chief Charles Masoner, 209 00:15:12,680 --> 00:15:16,120 Speaker 1: a man apparently known as Chuggy to his friends, according 210 00:15:16,120 --> 00:15:19,240 Speaker 1: to his obituary, was sitting in his office with an 211 00:15:19,280 --> 00:15:24,080 Speaker 1: agent from the ATF. The agent had seen Moran passing 212 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:27,880 Speaker 1: out Clan flyers with Dennis Mayhon, and they had an 213 00:15:27,920 --> 00:15:31,520 Speaker 1: ultimatum for him. If he wanted to keep his job 214 00:15:31,560 --> 00:15:35,760 Speaker 1: as a cop, he needed to play ball. They wanted 215 00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:41,200 Speaker 1: information about his new friend. The ATF disputes Moran's claim 216 00:15:41,320 --> 00:15:43,640 Speaker 1: that they tried to force him to plant a bomb 217 00:15:43,640 --> 00:15:48,479 Speaker 1: in Mayhan's trailer. An agent told the Kansas City Star, quote, 218 00:15:48,760 --> 00:15:53,160 Speaker 1: we never encourage anyone to commit a violation. That just 219 00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:59,040 Speaker 1: did not occur. Now would the ATF pressure someone to 220 00:15:59,040 --> 00:16:02,680 Speaker 1: commit a crime. I'm not saying it's out of the question, 221 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:06,480 Speaker 1: but I don't think the ATF needed to plant a 222 00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:10,440 Speaker 1: bomb in Mayhon's trailer. There were bombs in Mayhan's trailer. 223 00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:16,160 Speaker 1: But Moran's story gets even stranger from there. He claims 224 00:16:16,200 --> 00:16:18,520 Speaker 1: the agents told him that the gun used to murder 225 00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:22,760 Speaker 1: Missouri State Trooper Jimmy Linegar in nineteen eighty five had 226 00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:28,520 Speaker 1: been registered to Dennis Mayhon, which is a wild thing 227 00:16:28,640 --> 00:16:34,280 Speaker 1: to say. Jimmy Linegar initiated what he thought was a 228 00:16:34,400 --> 00:16:37,720 Speaker 1: routine traffic stop a little south of Branson, Missouri, on 229 00:16:37,840 --> 00:16:42,480 Speaker 1: April fifteenth, nineteen eighty five. He didn't know he was 230 00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:45,800 Speaker 1: pulling over David Tate, a member of that Nazi bank 231 00:16:45,880 --> 00:16:51,120 Speaker 1: robbery gang, the Order. And David Tate was a fugitive. 232 00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:54,920 Speaker 1: A Grand Juri in Seattle had just indicted him and 233 00:16:55,040 --> 00:16:58,160 Speaker 1: twenty three others for conspiracy and racketeering related to the 234 00:16:58,280 --> 00:17:02,320 Speaker 1: Order's robberies. Who's also wanted in Washington State on an 235 00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:08,280 Speaker 1: older weapons charge. He felt cornered, so he opened fire 236 00:17:08,359 --> 00:17:11,159 Speaker 1: on the two state troopers with a mac ten, killing 237 00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:15,720 Speaker 1: Linegar and wounding Alan Hines before fleeing on foot. Tate 238 00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:18,680 Speaker 1: was missing in the Ozarks for a week before officers 239 00:17:18,680 --> 00:17:24,399 Speaker 1: spotted him drinking from a creek, hungry and confused. David 240 00:17:24,440 --> 00:17:26,880 Speaker 1: Tate is serving a life sentence in Missouri for first 241 00:17:26,920 --> 00:17:29,960 Speaker 1: degree murder. And this is the only time I've ever 242 00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:35,040 Speaker 1: seen Dennis Mayhon's name dragged into that story. Because the 243 00:17:35,080 --> 00:17:38,720 Speaker 1: thing is according to an opinion issued by the Eighth 244 00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:42,960 Speaker 1: Circuit Court of Appeals, the guns David Tate left behind 245 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:48,399 Speaker 1: in that van weren't registered to Dennis Mayhon because they 246 00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:52,840 Speaker 1: weren't registered to anybody at all. I mean, that was 247 00:17:53,359 --> 00:17:55,600 Speaker 1: part of the problem. He had a van full of 248 00:17:55,680 --> 00:18:01,800 Speaker 1: unregistered guns. But what an odd claim to make, and 249 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:06,160 Speaker 1: where would Moran even get an ideal like that? Had 250 00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:10,480 Speaker 1: Mayhon been telling him stories about the Order. Mayhon's on 251 00:18:10,560 --> 00:18:12,639 Speaker 1: record as having been a big fan of their work. 252 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:16,600 Speaker 1: But I can't find a claim anywhere else that he 253 00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:20,400 Speaker 1: ever had his hands on any guns or money connected 254 00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:25,040 Speaker 1: to the Order. Did the ATF agent just make that up? 255 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:32,600 Speaker 1: That seems unnecessary. I guess we'll never know, But regardless, 256 00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:36,440 Speaker 1: the claim does make for a neat little narrative device. 257 00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:40,320 Speaker 1: In that magazine article, you know in nineteen eighty seven, 258 00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:43,879 Speaker 1: the ATF is appealing to Moran's honor and loyalty to 259 00:18:43,920 --> 00:18:48,240 Speaker 1: a fellow cop. Surely you'll help us send Mayhon to jail. 260 00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:50,920 Speaker 1: He was involved in the murder of a state trooper, 261 00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:56,720 Speaker 1: but Moran declined the offer. He refused to assist the 262 00:18:56,720 --> 00:18:59,800 Speaker 1: agents in any way, and he soon lost his job 263 00:18:59,840 --> 00:19:04,160 Speaker 1: a Platte City police officer. And then a year later 264 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:07,399 Speaker 1: he's a rising star in the Ku Klux Klan and 265 00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:11,200 Speaker 1: he's telling this Kansas City Star magazine writer that men 266 00:19:11,359 --> 00:19:14,399 Speaker 1: like David Tate, the man who murdered that state trooper, 267 00:19:15,320 --> 00:19:19,000 Speaker 1: were heroes to him. He told the reporter that he 268 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:23,199 Speaker 1: dreamed of a perfect aryan nation where white men and 269 00:19:23,240 --> 00:19:27,359 Speaker 1: women lived under God's law alone, a place where non 270 00:19:27,440 --> 00:19:30,600 Speaker 1: whites could only visit on work fiesus, and anyone who 271 00:19:30,640 --> 00:19:35,119 Speaker 1: stepped out of line could be executed. In his vision 272 00:19:35,160 --> 00:19:38,879 Speaker 1: of this white utopia, there would be statues lining a 273 00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:43,000 Speaker 1: wide boulevard in the capitol, statues of men who had 274 00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:47,720 Speaker 1: killed in service of the Ethno State, men like David Tate. 275 00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:53,320 Speaker 1: After becoming fast friends in nineteen eighty seven, j Allen 276 00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:57,680 Speaker 1: Moran and Dennis Mahon got down to business clan business, 277 00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:02,560 Speaker 1: and by January nineteen eighty eight, they were trying to 278 00:20:02,560 --> 00:20:07,159 Speaker 1: get on TV. Tom Metzger's Race and Reason program had 279 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:09,360 Speaker 1: been on the air in cities all over the country 280 00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:13,400 Speaker 1: for a few years by then, with city after city. 281 00:20:13,960 --> 00:20:18,480 Speaker 1: But grudgingly taking their lawyer's advice, if the Klan wants 282 00:20:18,520 --> 00:20:22,760 Speaker 1: to be on public Access TV, you have to let them, 283 00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:25,760 Speaker 1: and it was Metzger's Race and Reason program that Moran 284 00:20:25,880 --> 00:20:29,800 Speaker 1: and Maehon were hoping to air in Kansas City. The 285 00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:33,840 Speaker 1: city initially rebuffed them by making up new rules. When 286 00:20:33,840 --> 00:20:36,399 Speaker 1: the men arrived at the studio with a VHS tape 287 00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:41,119 Speaker 1: of Metzger's show, they were told that public access programming 288 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:44,840 Speaker 1: had to actually be produced in the studio by local residents. 289 00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:50,000 Speaker 1: They couldn't broadcast pre recorded content, and if they wanted 290 00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:52,760 Speaker 1: to use the studio to record a show, they'd have 291 00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:55,960 Speaker 1: to receive training from station employees on how to properly 292 00:20:56,040 --> 00:21:00,000 Speaker 1: use all the equipment. And you know, we just don't 293 00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:06,359 Speaker 1: actually have any openings for training right now, so they're stalling. 294 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:09,520 Speaker 1: No data is scheduled for this training, and they can't 295 00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:11,320 Speaker 1: make the show until they get the training. You can 296 00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:13,479 Speaker 1: make the show, but you have to get the training. 297 00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:16,280 Speaker 1: And it's just not time. They're just kicking the can 298 00:21:16,359 --> 00:21:20,120 Speaker 1: down the road, buying time. While the Kansas City City 299 00:21:20,160 --> 00:21:22,919 Speaker 1: Council meets with lawyers to try to figure out how 300 00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:41,040 Speaker 1: to stop this. The conflict over what could be aired 301 00:21:41,080 --> 00:21:44,920 Speaker 1: on TV in Kansas City caught the attention of Harry Jones, 302 00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:49,360 Speaker 1: a journalism instructor at the University of Kansas. He thought 303 00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:52,119 Speaker 1: it would be a valuable learning opportunity for his students 304 00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:55,320 Speaker 1: to hear from Moran and Mayhon, saying it would be 305 00:21:55,400 --> 00:22:01,760 Speaker 1: a lesson in challenging interviewing. Campus protests forced him to 306 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:06,240 Speaker 1: rescind the invitation to appear on campus. The class was rescheduled. 307 00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:11,280 Speaker 1: Twenty two journalism students were shuttled to an empty airplane 308 00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:15,199 Speaker 1: hangar at a nearby regional airport for a class that 309 00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:20,359 Speaker 1: looked more like a press conference. The two clansmen held court, 310 00:22:20,920 --> 00:22:24,439 Speaker 1: expounding on their philosophies on race mixing and the evil 311 00:22:24,480 --> 00:22:29,160 Speaker 1: influence exerted by Jewish people, and then they took questions 312 00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:33,520 Speaker 1: from the students afterward. One student said the men's views 313 00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:39,600 Speaker 1: were quote unrealistic and laughable, and noted that they avoided 314 00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:43,600 Speaker 1: answering certain questions, refusing to give any hard answers on 315 00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:47,719 Speaker 1: the actual size of their organization or exactly how they 316 00:22:47,760 --> 00:22:50,800 Speaker 1: intended to remove black and Jewish people from the land 317 00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:54,800 Speaker 1: they would use for their ethno state. Another student said 318 00:22:54,840 --> 00:23:01,480 Speaker 1: the men's remarks were gross and obscene and completely unprintable, 319 00:23:02,280 --> 00:23:06,960 Speaker 1: particularly on the subject of Jews. All in all, the 320 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:10,439 Speaker 1: instructor viewed the event as a success, telling the paper 321 00:23:10,480 --> 00:23:12,960 Speaker 1: that about a third of the students engaged in the 322 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:19,040 Speaker 1: interview practice and were vigorous and polite but persistent. I'm 323 00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:21,360 Speaker 1: sure the decision to hold the class in the end 324 00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:23,840 Speaker 1: had nothing to do with the clan's threats against the 325 00:23:23,920 --> 00:23:28,720 Speaker 1: university after the invitation was originally withdrawn. Moran's threats to 326 00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:32,560 Speaker 1: sue over a canceled class probably didn't have them shaking 327 00:23:32,600 --> 00:23:36,520 Speaker 1: in their boots, but the promise of impending clan rallies 328 00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:42,080 Speaker 1: on campus was unappealing, and it wasn't just the University 329 00:23:42,080 --> 00:23:45,240 Speaker 1: of Kansas that he was threatening with lawsuits and clan marches. 330 00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:49,159 Speaker 1: By the summer of nineteen eighty eight, Kansas City had 331 00:23:49,240 --> 00:23:52,600 Speaker 1: voted to shut down their entire public access television station 332 00:23:53,520 --> 00:23:57,679 Speaker 1: rather than air the clan's TV show. The Clan's been 333 00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:01,159 Speaker 1: responded by filing suit with the backing of the ACLU, 334 00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:05,840 Speaker 1: and soon after that suit was filed, the debate about 335 00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:13,399 Speaker 1: what belongs on TV reached Weekday afternoon's most watched TV show. 336 00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:17,240 Speaker 3: In Kansas City. Recently, a civic battle erupted when council 337 00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:21,320 Speaker 3: members voted to eliminate the public access channel rather than 338 00:24:21,400 --> 00:24:24,440 Speaker 3: to allow the Klan to broadcast. Dennis Mayan is a 339 00:24:24,520 --> 00:24:28,560 Speaker 3: KKK official who wanted to be host of the Klansas 340 00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:31,800 Speaker 3: City cable program, which would feature, among other things, footage 341 00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:35,280 Speaker 3: from KKK rallies and cross burnings, and, in Dennis's own words, 342 00:24:35,280 --> 00:24:38,200 Speaker 3: an occasional safari through the black parts of Kansas City. 343 00:24:38,640 --> 00:24:41,560 Speaker 3: Defending Gennis and other clan members. Writes to free and 344 00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:45,280 Speaker 3: equal opportunity to public access cable stations is American Civil 345 00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:49,800 Speaker 3: Liberties attorney John Powell. 346 00:24:49,880 --> 00:24:53,159 Speaker 1: The September first, nineteen eighty eight episode of The Oprah 347 00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:58,080 Speaker 1: Winfrey Show featured Tom Metzker, Dennis Mayhon, and Dennis's ACLU 348 00:24:58,119 --> 00:25:02,440 Speaker 1: attorney squaring off again, C. T. Vivian, a man that 349 00:25:02,480 --> 00:25:06,120 Speaker 1: Martin Luther King Junior himself once called the greatest preacher 350 00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:10,119 Speaker 1: to ever live, Reverend Emmanuel Cleaver, a Kansas City City 351 00:25:10,119 --> 00:25:12,600 Speaker 1: councilman who was fighting to keep Mayhon off the air, 352 00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:17,159 Speaker 1: and an Orthodox Rabbi. The show was a bit of 353 00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:20,720 Speaker 1: a circus, but that's obviously what they were going for. 354 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:24,879 Speaker 1: Members of the John Brown Anti Clan Committee had packed 355 00:25:24,880 --> 00:25:27,560 Speaker 1: the audience and managed to get several comments in as 356 00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:30,560 Speaker 1: Oprah roamed the studio soliciting questions. 357 00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:36,560 Speaker 4: John Brown Anti Clan committeem proud of it. I'd like 358 00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:39,760 Speaker 4: to ask this question, where does free speech end and 359 00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:43,200 Speaker 4: the freedoms organized for murder begin. Where do we draw 360 00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:45,879 Speaker 4: the line. I draw the line with Tom Metzer and 361 00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:48,320 Speaker 4: the klu Klux Klan because behind a man in the 362 00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:52,480 Speaker 4: three piece six is another man in a paramilitary uniform, 363 00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:54,600 Speaker 4: and those people are out there killing people. 364 00:25:57,720 --> 00:26:02,040 Speaker 1: That audience member was Tray more right than she could 365 00:26:02,040 --> 00:26:05,840 Speaker 1: have known. Just six weeks after that episode aired, an 366 00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:09,320 Speaker 1: Ethiopian college student nam Mulagetta Sarah was beaten to death 367 00:26:09,359 --> 00:26:13,480 Speaker 1: in Portland, Oregon by three skinheads. With help from the 368 00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:17,880 Speaker 1: Southern Poverty Law Center, Mullageda's family successfully sued Tom Metzger 369 00:26:18,080 --> 00:26:23,040 Speaker 1: for twelve million dollars. Those murderers were exactly what the 370 00:26:23,080 --> 00:26:28,000 Speaker 1: opera audience member predicted, a paramilitary force behind a man 371 00:26:28,040 --> 00:26:31,200 Speaker 1: in a three piece suit. They were members of White 372 00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:36,080 Speaker 1: Arian resistance who had been incited to kill by Metzger's propaganda. 373 00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:39,359 Speaker 1: Maihon made a whole week out of his trip to 374 00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:43,240 Speaker 1: Chicago to appear on OPRAH. The episode was filmed on 375 00:26:43,280 --> 00:26:46,119 Speaker 1: a Thursday, but he spent the whole week in the city. 376 00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:50,520 Speaker 1: On Sunday, August twenty eighth, he was a headline speaker 377 00:26:50,560 --> 00:26:55,480 Speaker 1: at a White Pride rally in Chicago's Marquette Park. Five 378 00:26:55,800 --> 00:27:00,280 Speaker 1: hundred people turned up to hear speeches from klansmen. The 379 00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:04,360 Speaker 1: events organizers, a clan chapter in Illinois, claimed they'd had 380 00:27:04,359 --> 00:27:08,280 Speaker 1: no idea there was another event in Marquette Park that day. 381 00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:13,080 Speaker 1: Marquette Park is over three hundred acres, and clansmen aren't 382 00:27:13,119 --> 00:27:17,639 Speaker 1: known for their courtesy or flawless event planning, so maybe 383 00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:22,000 Speaker 1: they hadn't done it on purpose. But that Sunday afternoon 384 00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:25,160 Speaker 1: they were sharing the park with several hundred people who 385 00:27:25,160 --> 00:27:29,160 Speaker 1: had marched over together from a nearby church. They were 386 00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:33,080 Speaker 1: commemorating the August nineteen sixty six Marquette Park March, led 387 00:27:33,119 --> 00:27:37,879 Speaker 1: by doctor Martin Luther King, Junior. And history may not repeat, 388 00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:42,439 Speaker 1: but it often does rhyme. That march in nineteen sixty 389 00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:47,159 Speaker 1: six was confronted by thousands of angry white people, some 390 00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:51,439 Speaker 1: with Confederate flags and swastika banners, and they pelted the 391 00:27:51,480 --> 00:27:55,320 Speaker 1: marchers with objects, hitting doctor King himself in the head 392 00:27:55,359 --> 00:27:58,920 Speaker 1: with a rock. And in nineteen eighty eight, the city 393 00:27:58,920 --> 00:28:03,440 Speaker 1: of Chicago sent eight hundred police officers to keep these 394 00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:07,960 Speaker 1: two events separate. Officers on horseback blocked a contingent of 395 00:28:08,040 --> 00:28:10,560 Speaker 1: klansmen who broke off from the main event to try 396 00:28:10,600 --> 00:28:15,399 Speaker 1: to antagonize the churchgoers. Officers had to form a human 397 00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:19,760 Speaker 1: barricade to hold back the clansmen as the other rally dispersed. 398 00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:26,720 Speaker 1: Newspaper reports say there were no injuries, but they also 399 00:28:26,800 --> 00:28:29,280 Speaker 1: report that a young black man who appeared to have 400 00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:31,920 Speaker 1: no idea that either event was happening in the park 401 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:35,720 Speaker 1: that day had to be rescued by officers after klansmen 402 00:28:35,800 --> 00:28:40,920 Speaker 1: surrounded him, pelting him with rocks. At least a dozen 403 00:28:40,960 --> 00:28:44,800 Speaker 1: klansmen were arrested for disorderly conduct and one for punching 404 00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:49,640 Speaker 1: a photographer. But Dennis Mayhon's trip to Chicago was a success. 405 00:28:50,640 --> 00:28:53,280 Speaker 1: He gave a speech to a crowd of hundreds of supporters, 406 00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:59,920 Speaker 1: and he appeared on national television. Everybody saw him, everybody 407 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:01,240 Speaker 1: including his boss. 408 00:29:03,560 --> 00:29:05,360 Speaker 2: If I may lose my job for being on the 409 00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:19,000 Speaker 2: show today, Oprah's. 410 00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:15,760 Speaker 1: Studio audience cheered when Mayhun said he may end up 411 00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:19,520 Speaker 1: losing his job for appearing on the show. In the 412 00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:22,280 Speaker 1: context of the show, he's trying to make a point 413 00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:25,560 Speaker 1: about how he's suffering for his political views, how he's 414 00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:29,640 Speaker 1: constantly being punished for exercising his right to free speech. 415 00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:33,520 Speaker 1: He probably didn't actually think he was going to lose 416 00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:39,280 Speaker 1: his job. His employer, trans World Airlines, said they'd known 417 00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:42,800 Speaker 1: about his clan activities for some time. He's not a 418 00:29:42,800 --> 00:29:46,800 Speaker 1: subtle guy. He was fired shortly after appearing on the 419 00:29:46,800 --> 00:29:50,120 Speaker 1: Oprah Winfrey Show, but it wasn't because they learned something 420 00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:53,840 Speaker 1: new about their aircraft mechanic. It was because he kept 421 00:29:53,920 --> 00:29:58,720 Speaker 1: missing work. His trip to Chicago in September was far 422 00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:01,120 Speaker 1: from the only thing take him away from his job 423 00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:05,760 Speaker 1: at the Kansas City International Airport that year. In February, 424 00:30:05,840 --> 00:30:09,200 Speaker 1: he took a week off to go to Arkansas. Klansmen 425 00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:12,040 Speaker 1: and neo Nazis from around the country were demonstrating outside 426 00:30:12,080 --> 00:30:15,400 Speaker 1: the federal courthouse in Fort Smith as the trial began 427 00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:19,040 Speaker 1: for the fourteen white supremacist leaders accused of seditious conspiracy. 428 00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:25,360 Speaker 1: The very first Aryan Fest, a kind of Nazi woodstock 429 00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:27,960 Speaker 1: that Tom Metzger and his son John came up with, 430 00:30:28,440 --> 00:30:31,960 Speaker 1: was held that summer. A nineteen eighty eight issue of 431 00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:35,320 Speaker 1: Metzger's White Arian Resistance newsletter says that over one hundred 432 00:30:35,440 --> 00:30:39,240 Speaker 1: Nazis and skinheads from around the country spent three days 433 00:30:39,240 --> 00:30:42,760 Speaker 1: in June on a farm in Oklahoma listening to white 434 00:30:42,760 --> 00:30:48,000 Speaker 1: power music. He describes a band called the Tulsa Midtown 435 00:30:48,160 --> 00:30:52,560 Speaker 1: boot Boys as quote one of the hottest white power 436 00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:57,160 Speaker 1: bands this side of Screwdriver. A month later, in July, 437 00:30:57,440 --> 00:30:59,360 Speaker 1: Mayhon took a trip out to Idaho to give a 438 00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:03,440 Speaker 1: speech at the air In World Congress, and even when 439 00:31:03,440 --> 00:31:07,640 Speaker 1: he wasn't traveling, he was busy. In nineteen eighty eight, 440 00:31:07,680 --> 00:31:11,360 Speaker 1: Mayhon had a falling out with Tom rob. Rob was 441 00:31:11,400 --> 00:31:14,160 Speaker 1: the national director of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. 442 00:31:15,360 --> 00:31:18,800 Speaker 1: He didn't like being called an imperial wizard. I guess 443 00:31:18,840 --> 00:31:22,960 Speaker 1: he thought that sounded silly, but I can't imagine why. 444 00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:26,160 Speaker 1: But he was the national director and Mayhon was a 445 00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:29,080 Speaker 1: king Klegel in the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. 446 00:31:30,760 --> 00:31:33,520 Speaker 1: But as the sedition trial got underway at Fort Smith, 447 00:31:34,480 --> 00:31:37,200 Speaker 1: Tom Rob thought it would be prudent for the clan 448 00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:41,200 Speaker 1: to publicly stand by only those defendants who he felt 449 00:31:41,280 --> 00:31:45,600 Speaker 1: had a valid First Amendment defense. He didn't want to 450 00:31:45,640 --> 00:31:49,920 Speaker 1: be seen in public defending out and out terrorism. That'd 451 00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:54,040 Speaker 1: be bad for business. Dennis Mayhon, on the other hand, 452 00:31:54,720 --> 00:31:58,400 Speaker 1: was offering his full throated support, not only for all 453 00:31:58,440 --> 00:32:01,320 Speaker 1: of the defendants in the Fort Smith trial, but for 454 00:32:01,360 --> 00:32:04,720 Speaker 1: all of the members of the order. He publicly praised 455 00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:07,320 Speaker 1: Robert Matthews, the gang's leader, who had died in an 456 00:32:07,480 --> 00:32:12,720 Speaker 1: armed standoff with the FBI, calling him a martyr. And 457 00:32:12,800 --> 00:32:16,560 Speaker 1: it was this disagreement about how much you can say 458 00:32:16,560 --> 00:32:20,320 Speaker 1: out loud in public that you love terrorism that caused 459 00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:23,280 Speaker 1: Dennis Mahon to split with the Knights of the Ku 460 00:32:23,360 --> 00:32:27,440 Speaker 1: Klux Klan, and in nineteen eighty eight he formed his 461 00:32:27,560 --> 00:32:30,680 Speaker 1: own organization, calling it the White Knights of the Ku 462 00:32:30,800 --> 00:32:37,080 Speaker 1: Klux Klan. It doesn't look like Dennis Mayhon ever, got 463 00:32:37,120 --> 00:32:39,520 Speaker 1: a new full time job after getting let go in 464 00:32:39,560 --> 00:32:42,720 Speaker 1: the fall of nineteen eighty eight, but that just freed 465 00:32:42,800 --> 00:32:46,760 Speaker 1: him up to spend more time organizing. In nineteen eighty nine, 466 00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:49,920 Speaker 1: he ran for Aldermen in Ward I of the Kansas 467 00:32:49,920 --> 00:32:54,640 Speaker 1: City suburb of Northmore. His candidate profile on the local 468 00:32:54,680 --> 00:32:59,840 Speaker 1: newspaper says only he does automotive work on a contract basis. 469 00:33:00,440 --> 00:33:05,480 Speaker 1: He could not be reached for additional information. Fellow clansman 470 00:33:05,720 --> 00:33:08,840 Speaker 1: Edward Eugene Stephens the Fourth was running for Aldermen and 471 00:33:08,880 --> 00:33:14,120 Speaker 1: Northmore's third Ward Stephen's wife Cynthia, ran for collector and 472 00:33:14,280 --> 00:33:18,560 Speaker 1: his father, Edward Eugene Stephens the third, was running unopposed 473 00:33:18,600 --> 00:33:23,640 Speaker 1: to keep his seat as Northmore's municipal judge. Stephens's wife 474 00:33:23,680 --> 00:33:27,000 Speaker 1: and father told the Kansas City Star that they were 475 00:33:27,120 --> 00:33:31,200 Speaker 1: not members of the clan, although no one denied that 476 00:33:31,360 --> 00:33:36,600 Speaker 1: Edward Stephens fourth was deeply involved in the clan. Two 477 00:33:36,680 --> 00:33:40,160 Speaker 1: years later, after Rodney King was beaten by LAPD officers, 478 00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:44,840 Speaker 1: Stephens and Mayhon were responsible for mailing clan recruitment flyers 479 00:33:44,920 --> 00:33:50,200 Speaker 1: to police departments all over Los Angeles in the midst 480 00:33:50,240 --> 00:33:53,640 Speaker 1: of what appeared to have been a fairly lackluster campaign 481 00:33:53,720 --> 00:33:57,320 Speaker 1: for Aldermen. In nineteen eighty nine, Dennis Mayhon was still 482 00:33:57,320 --> 00:34:00,520 Speaker 1: fighting the Kansas City City Council over his public access 483 00:34:00,560 --> 00:34:04,600 Speaker 1: TV show. The city hoped to get his lawsuit dismissed, 484 00:34:05,760 --> 00:34:08,439 Speaker 1: but after a federal judge denied their motion and set 485 00:34:08,440 --> 00:34:13,759 Speaker 1: a trial date for September, they decided to just settle instead. 486 00:34:14,160 --> 00:34:17,920 Speaker 1: That summer, the city council voted to reinstate the public 487 00:34:17,960 --> 00:34:22,000 Speaker 1: access channel. They signed a settlement agreement with the Klansmen 488 00:34:22,120 --> 00:34:26,759 Speaker 1: for ninety seven thousand dollars. Maehon would go on to 489 00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:29,360 Speaker 1: press his luck trying to get Tom Metzger's Race and 490 00:34:29,400 --> 00:34:32,360 Speaker 1: Reason program on other public access channels in the region, 491 00:34:32,920 --> 00:34:35,960 Speaker 1: threatening to bring in white supremacist leaders like Tom Metzker 492 00:34:36,040 --> 00:34:40,120 Speaker 1: himself and Aran Nation's leader Richard Butler, to stage protests 493 00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:45,040 Speaker 1: outside the studios if they didn't capitulate, and on April third, 494 00:34:45,239 --> 00:34:51,000 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety, the first and only episode of his Very 495 00:34:51,040 --> 00:34:56,319 Speaker 1: own show aired in Kansas City. The episode is not 496 00:34:56,640 --> 00:35:02,080 Speaker 1: quite fifteen minutes long. In the open, frames are garbled, 497 00:35:02,160 --> 00:35:06,120 Speaker 1: there's colored bars sort of flickering over the clansmen, and 498 00:35:06,160 --> 00:35:10,880 Speaker 1: the audio is choppy, but it opens on a klansman 499 00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:13,839 Speaker 1: in a red robe with his face entirely covered by 500 00:35:13,840 --> 00:35:21,799 Speaker 1: a red hood, and he greets the viewer with this message, city. 501 00:35:21,480 --> 00:35:27,560 Speaker 2: By city, we're going where we want, certain what we want. 502 00:35:28,360 --> 00:35:32,520 Speaker 2: Nobody no water is born with Starflus. 503 00:35:33,360 --> 00:35:34,000 Speaker 1: Our country. 504 00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:37,440 Speaker 2: He was born out of bloodshed, and from that bloodshed 505 00:35:37,920 --> 00:35:40,320 Speaker 2: was the birth of the Ku Klux Klan. 506 00:35:43,960 --> 00:35:47,520 Speaker 1: After his introduction, ending with a shout of white power 507 00:35:47,680 --> 00:35:52,239 Speaker 1: punctuated by a Hitler salute, the klansmen in red sort 508 00:35:52,239 --> 00:35:56,080 Speaker 1: of shuffles out of frame and Dennis Mahon walks in. 509 00:35:57,440 --> 00:36:00,279 Speaker 1: He's wearing a bright teal Clan robe with a red 510 00:36:00,360 --> 00:36:06,600 Speaker 1: kate but no hood. What follows is a rambling complaint 511 00:36:06,680 --> 00:36:09,400 Speaker 1: about how unfair the process has been to get the 512 00:36:09,400 --> 00:36:11,640 Speaker 1: show on the air, and then he lays out a 513 00:36:11,680 --> 00:36:15,200 Speaker 1: plan for what the show will be. Episodes will feature 514 00:36:15,239 --> 00:36:19,280 Speaker 1: footage from clan rallies, and they'll have guests with differing perspectives, 515 00:36:19,920 --> 00:36:24,680 Speaker 1: and he promises to feature what he calls quote racial comedians, 516 00:36:25,840 --> 00:36:31,319 Speaker 1: because quote, we all like good racial jokes. I don't 517 00:36:31,360 --> 00:36:35,520 Speaker 1: know who we is. Dennis. He hoped to have episodes 518 00:36:35,560 --> 00:36:39,160 Speaker 1: featuring interviews with his friends, people like Tom Metzger and 519 00:36:39,360 --> 00:36:42,640 Speaker 1: Arian Nation's leader Richard Butler, but he also wanted to 520 00:36:42,680 --> 00:36:48,000 Speaker 1: feature people with other ideas, people like Lewis Ferricon. But 521 00:36:48,080 --> 00:36:52,279 Speaker 1: he never did book any guests. The only episode of 522 00:36:52,480 --> 00:36:56,920 Speaker 1: Klansas City Cable was taped at the American Cablevision studio 523 00:36:57,040 --> 00:37:00,839 Speaker 1: on Main Street in downtown Kansas City, few days before 524 00:37:00,880 --> 00:37:05,600 Speaker 1: it aired. While Mahon was recording, his supporters waited outside 525 00:37:06,040 --> 00:37:12,120 Speaker 1: standing guard. There was no demonstration, there was no protests. 526 00:37:12,160 --> 00:37:15,320 Speaker 1: The public outcry was over it been going on for years. 527 00:37:16,600 --> 00:37:21,440 Speaker 1: Nobody showed up. I doubt anyone had any particular idea 528 00:37:21,480 --> 00:37:24,040 Speaker 1: that the program was even being recorded. In an office 529 00:37:24,040 --> 00:37:27,920 Speaker 1: building on a Thursday afternoon, but one of the two 530 00:37:27,960 --> 00:37:30,880 Speaker 1: dozen clansmen standing on main Street waiting for Denis to 531 00:37:30,920 --> 00:37:35,240 Speaker 1: come out, pulled a gun on a black pedestrian, prompting 532 00:37:35,320 --> 00:37:39,560 Speaker 1: nine to one one calls. In the end, nineteen klansmen 533 00:37:39,600 --> 00:37:42,680 Speaker 1: were taken into custody in the fifteen minutes it took 534 00:37:42,719 --> 00:37:46,800 Speaker 1: Dennis to record the episode. Most of them were released 535 00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:51,840 Speaker 1: without charges. The incident prompted American Cable Vision to announce 536 00:37:51,880 --> 00:37:55,080 Speaker 1: a plan to update their rules for using the studio. 537 00:37:55,200 --> 00:37:57,719 Speaker 1: They were hoping to ban guns on the premises and 538 00:37:57,920 --> 00:38:02,200 Speaker 1: require all visitors to sign in. There's no follow up 539 00:38:02,239 --> 00:38:04,719 Speaker 1: I can find on whether they ended up implementing any 540 00:38:04,800 --> 00:38:09,080 Speaker 1: changes to the rules. But it didn't matter. Dennis got 541 00:38:09,120 --> 00:38:13,400 Speaker 1: what he wanted. He didn't actually want the responsibility of 542 00:38:13,400 --> 00:38:17,200 Speaker 1: creating a weekly television program. He was a man of action, 543 00:38:18,000 --> 00:38:24,160 Speaker 1: not words. Now, Tom Metzker was a committed propagandist, but 544 00:38:24,239 --> 00:38:26,960 Speaker 1: Dennis Mayhon just wanted to force everyone to submit to 545 00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:31,000 Speaker 1: the Clan, and now that they had, he didn't have 546 00:38:31,040 --> 00:38:36,319 Speaker 1: to make any more episodes. He proved his point. I 547 00:38:36,400 --> 00:38:39,560 Speaker 1: had every intention of getting all the way through the 548 00:38:39,600 --> 00:38:43,000 Speaker 1: early nineties in this first episode, but I have to 549 00:38:43,040 --> 00:38:45,840 Speaker 1: confess that I got in a little too deep researching 550 00:38:45,880 --> 00:38:48,400 Speaker 1: the latter half of the story when I should have 551 00:38:48,400 --> 00:38:51,520 Speaker 1: been writing the first half. And it's now very late 552 00:38:51,520 --> 00:38:53,719 Speaker 1: at night, and I need to deliver this recording to 553 00:38:53,840 --> 00:38:59,040 Speaker 1: Rory before he wakes up. Dennis Mayhon has only just 554 00:38:59,120 --> 00:39:03,080 Speaker 1: begun to cause problems at this point, so you'll have 555 00:39:03,120 --> 00:39:06,239 Speaker 1: to come back next week to hear about the Klansman's 556 00:39:06,239 --> 00:39:10,080 Speaker 1: attempt to frighten black children with a bad Mister Rogers impression, 557 00:39:11,080 --> 00:39:14,120 Speaker 1: his efforts to start clan chapters in Germany in the 558 00:39:14,160 --> 00:39:18,160 Speaker 1: time he got deported from Canada, the conspiracy theories linking 559 00:39:18,239 --> 00:39:22,040 Speaker 1: him to the Oklahoma City bombing, and the exotic dancer 560 00:39:22,080 --> 00:39:26,560 Speaker 1: who spent four years gaining his trust, secretly recording him 561 00:39:26,640 --> 00:39:29,200 Speaker 1: until he said enough to tie him to a mail 562 00:39:29,239 --> 00:39:35,040 Speaker 1: bomb in Arizona. And there's also a very weird guy 563 00:39:35,480 --> 00:39:39,520 Speaker 1: with a compound in the Ozarks. He hides his guns 564 00:39:39,600 --> 00:39:49,840 Speaker 1: in the many natural caves around his property. Poo Little 565 00:39:49,840 --> 00:39:54,000 Speaker 1: Guys as a production at Coolzone Media and iHeartRadio. It's research, 566 00:39:54,040 --> 00:39:57,920 Speaker 1: written and recorded by me, Molly Conger. Our executive producers 567 00:39:57,920 --> 00:40:01,560 Speaker 1: are Sophie Littterman, and Robert Evans. The show is edited 568 00:40:01,560 --> 00:40:05,080 Speaker 1: by the wildly talented Rory Gagan. The theme music was 569 00:40:05,080 --> 00:40:08,680 Speaker 1: composed by Brad Dickert. You can email me at Weird 570 00:40:08,680 --> 00:40:11,520 Speaker 1: Little Guys podcast at gmail dot com. Unless it is 571 00:40:11,560 --> 00:40:14,520 Speaker 1: about how I pronounced the name of the city. I'll 572 00:40:14,520 --> 00:40:17,600 Speaker 1: definitely read your email, but I poorly won't answer it. 573 00:40:17,600 --> 00:40:21,640 Speaker 1: It's nothing personal. You can exchange conspiracy theories about the 574 00:40:21,640 --> 00:40:24,000 Speaker 1: show with other listeners on the Weird Little Guys separate it. 575 00:40:25,120 --> 00:40:27,040 Speaker 1: Just don't post anything that's going to make you one 576 00:40:27,040 --> 00:40:37,080 Speaker 1: of my Weird Little Guys