Thomas Robb (Ku Klux Klan)

Thom Robb
Born	Thomas Robb 1946 Detroit, Michigan
Title	National director of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan
Website	www.christianidentitychurch.net and www.kkk.com

Thomas Robb is the national director of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, and a pastor at the Christian Revival Center.

Early life

Robb was born in Detroit, Michigan and grew up in Tucson, Arizona. He dropped out of high school due to drug use and failing grades. Looking for a way to make money, he opened up a printing business where he began publishing The Torch.

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 American far right ideals and an active member of the John Birch Society.

Activities

Robb believes "There is a race war against whites. ... That way is the Christian way - law and order - love of family - love of nation. These are the principles of western Christian civilization. There is a war to destroy these things. Pray that our people see the error of their ways and regain a sense of loyalty. Repent America! Be faithful my fellow believers."

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.[1] Over the years Robb has developed a close relationship with other far right extremists including, J. B. Stoner, Dr. Ed Fields, Don Black, David Duke, Willis Carto, Michael Collins Piper, and Canadian extremist Paul Fromm.

Robb claims to defend a harmless organization, "gentle, upbeat, and friendly" When featured in the PBS documentary Banished, Robb compared a Klan hood to a businessman's tie, claiming that "it's just tradition." Robb is a pastor who believes in creationism, "or as some call intelligent design," and rejects evolution as "an attack upon our faith." However, Robb's far right politics are especially disturbing to Klan monitoring groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League because of his ability to cloak his message in the garb of Christianity. He is the pastor of a church, Christian Revival Center, [2] 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. The case was filed in 2006 when the paper alleged the Klan inserted its fliers into Rhino Times newspapers which then went its customers. The Klan counter-sued for defamation, but lost. Also recent attention has focused on his family who have followed him into right-wing 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.

External links

• Thomas Robb's church
• www.kkk.com
• Thomas Robb's blog

{{subst:#if:Robb, Thomas|}} [[Category:{{subst:#switch:{{subst:uc:}}

|| UNKNOWN | MISSING = Year of birth missing {{subst:#switch:{{subst:uc:}}||LIVING=(living people)}}
| #default =  births

}}]] {{subst:#switch:{{subst:uc:}}

|| LIVING  = 
| MISSING  = 
| UNKNOWN  = 
| #default = 

}}