Thomas Robb (Ku Klux Klan)
 |
Thom Robb | |
|---|---|
| Born | Thomas Robb 1946 |
| Title | National director of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan Pastor of the Christian Revival Center. |
| Website | www.christianidentitychurch.net and www.kkk.com |
Thomas Robb, also known as Thom Robb[1], is the national director of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan,[2] and a pastor at the Christian Revival Center.
Early life
Thomas Robb was born in Detroit, Michigan as a Baptist and grew up in Tucson, Arizona.[3]
Robb's extremism originated with his parents, who also shared the politics of Joseph McCarthy, Gerald L.K. Smith, Kenneth Goff, and Conde McGinley. He claims to have become awakened to the "Myth of the Holocaust" at 13 years old while reading Conde McGinley's anti-Communist and antisemitic paper Common Sense. While still in high school he was an outspoken supporter of segregationist ideals and an active member of the John Birch Society.
Activities
In 1986, Robb organized a protest against the Martin Luther King National Holiday in Pulaski, Tennessee, which is the birthplace of the Ku Klux Klan. The event eventually became known as the White Christian Heritage Festival, held each October in Pulaski.[4] Over the years Robb has developed a close relationship with other extremists including, J. B. Stoner, Ed Fields, Don Black, David Duke, Willis Carto, Michael Collins Piper, Canadian extremist Paul Fromm and former Croatian diplomat Tomislav Sunic.
Robb, a prolific writer, claims to defend a harmless organization, "gentle, upbeat, and friendly".[5] When featured in the PBS documentary Banished, Robb compared a Klan hood to a businessman's tie, claiming that "it's just tradition."[6] Robb is a pastor who believes in creationism, "or as some call intelligent design," and rejects evolution as "an attack upon our faith."[7] Robb's politics are especially disturbing to groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League because of what they perceive as his ability to cloak his message in the garb of Christianity. He is the pastor of a church, Christian Revival Center,[8] and broadcasts on shortwave radio and Stormfront internet radio.
In July 2009, his group lost a lawsuit and was ordered to pay $25,000 in punitive damages to the Rhino Times, a North Carolina newspaper, which it was using to spread its propaganda.[9] The case was filed in 2006 when the paper charged that the Klan inserted its fliers into Rhino Times newspapers which then went to its customers.[9] The Klan counter-sued for defamation, but lost.[9] Also recent attention has focused on his family who have followed him into extremism, such as his daughter Rachel Pendergraft and his granddaughters, Charity and Shelby Pendergraft, who have recently formed a "white nationalist" band called Heritage Connection.[10]
References
- ^ "Rebranding Hate in the Age of Obama". Newsweek. May 4, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
- ^ "Ku Klux Klan files suit against Rhino Times". News & Record (Greensboro). Oct 18, 2006. Retrieved 2008-07-15.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Christopher, Garland (27 March 2008.). "Klan's New Message of Cyber-Hate". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ White Christian Heritage Festival website
- ^ Jon Ronson (2001). "New Klan". www.jonronson.com. Retrieved 2008-09-22.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Ellen Maguire (2008-09-19). "PBS's 'Banished' Exposes the Tainted Past of Three White Enclaves". Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-09-22.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ "The Trap is Set". Thomas Robb blog. April 24, 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-15.
- ^ Christian Identity Church website
- ^ a b c "Arkansas Klan Group Loses Legal Battle with North Carolina Newspaper". Anti-Defamation League. July 9, 2009. Retrieved 2008-08-15.
- ^ "Another Adorable White-Power Sister Act". Southern Poverty Law Center. August 6, 2009. Retrieved 2008-08-15.