Kathy Ainsworth
 |
Kathryn Madlyn Ainsworth | |
|---|---|
| Born | Kathryn Madlyn Capomacchia July 31, 1941 |
| Died | June 30, 1968 Meridian, Mississippi, United States |
| Cause of death | Gunshot |
| Other names |
|
| Occupation | Elementary school teacher |
| Spouse | Ralph Ainsworth |
Kathryn Madlyn Ainsworth (born Kathryn Madlyn Capomacchia) was an American Ku Klux Klan terrorist.
Early life
Kathryn Madlyn Ainsworth was born Kathryn Madlyn Capomacchia on July 31, 1941. Capomacchia was raised by her mother, who was known to have anti-Semitic views. She introduced Kathy to the works of far-right political organizer Gerald L. K. Smith, founder of the Christian Nationalist Crusade and member of the Silver Legion of America.[2]
Kathy was a devout churchgoer. She taught Sunday school and sang in choir at Coral Baptist Church in Miami.[1]
Capomacchia attended college at Mississippi College in Clinton, Mississippi. In the spring of 1960, she roomed with Bonnie Barnes, the daughter of extremist Sidney Crockett Barnes - a devoted follower of Wesley Swift. In the years between graduation and marriage, Kathy Capomacchia and her mother were frequent guests at the Barnes home in Mobile, Alabama where she met her future lover, Thomas Albert Tarrants III.
Around the summer of 1967, Kathy Capomacchia married Ralph Ainsworth.[citation needed]
Radicalism
Ainsworth and her companion, Thomas Tarrants, were both members of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, one of the most militant white resistance organizations during the Civil Rights era. Ainsworth, herself, was also a member of two additional KKK groups: the Original Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and the United Klans of America - as well as a Klan front called Americans for the Preservation of the White Race.[3]
According to police sources and numerous acquaintances of the two, older fanatics had influenced Kathy and Thomas with propaganda and hate material that came from organizations in Arizona, California, New Jersey and other states.[3]
Unbeknownst to her husband, Ainsworth began training in firearms and explosives in 1967.[4] He was aware of his wife's Klan connections, but not of her deep involvement.[citation needed]
Congregation Beth Israel bombing
On May 28, 1968, Ainsworth, along with Tarrants, had participated in the bombing of the Congregation Beth Israel in 1968.[5][6]
Death
Early on the morning of June 30, 1968,[7] Kathy Ainsworth and Thomas Tarrants drove to the home of Meyer Davidson planning to place a bomb on his front porch.[citation needed] Ainsworth waited in their car while Tarrants attempted to blow up Davidson's home with a homemade bomb consisting of 29 sticks of dynamite.[8][9] The FBI and local police, forewarned by Klan informants, ambushed the pair. Ainsworth was shot in the neck and died immediately.[10][11] A loaded pistol and a KKK membership card was found in her purse.[12] Right wing literature from groups including the Minutemen and the National States Rights Party was found during a search of her home.[13]
Tarrants survived numerous wounds and was sentenced to 30 years, but gained early release in 1976. The car's owner was identified to be Danny Joe Hawkins, a Ku Klux Klan hitman who had helped bomb Beth Israel.[14]
References
- ^ a b Sims, Patsy (December 12, 1996). The Klan. University Press of Kentucky. p. 235 – via Internet Archive.
Kathy Capomacchia.
- ^ Newton, Michael (December 21, 2009). "The Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi: A History". McFarland – via Google Books.
- ^ a b "The Spokesman-Review - Google News Archive Search". News.google.com.
- ^ Wexler, Stuart (July 19, 2015). "America's Secret Jihad: The Hidden History of Religious Terrorism in the United States". Counterpoint – via Google Books.
- ^ "| Kathy Ainsworth, an American Terrorist". Talk2action.org.
- ^ Mitgang, Herbert (1993-02-24). "Books of the Times; the Klan's War Against Jews in the Deep South". The New York Times.
- ^ Wooten, James T. (April 8, 1970). "Inquiry on F.B.I. in Klan Death Urged". Nytimes.com.
- ^ Hoffman, Roy (January 7, 2008). "'I deserved to die'". Al.com.
- ^ Goodrich, Chris (1993-02-23). "BOOK REVIEW : Klan and FBI Wounded in Hail of Bullets : TERROR IN THE NIGHT: The Klan's Campaign Against the Jews by Jack Nelson : Simon & Schuster $22; 304 pages". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ "More Than 20 Years Later p. – Editor & Publisher". Editorandpublisher.com.
- ^ "Newspaper clipping" (PDF). jfk.hood.edu. February 13, 1970. Retrieved 2019-07-19.
- ^ "Full text of "Kathy Ainsworth"". Archive.org.
- ^ Wernhoff, Carl (2005). "The Girl in the Polka Dot Dress: New Light on the Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy" (PDF). www.surfs-up.net. Retrieved 2019-07-19.
- ^ [1][dead link]