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Thomas Robb (Ku Klux Klan)

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Thomas Robb
Born1946 (age 77–78)
Detroit, Michigan
TitleNational director of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan
Pastor of the Christian Revival Center

Thomas Robb[1] (born 1946) is the national director of The Knights Party also known as the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan,[2] and a pastor at the Christian Revival Center. He also publishes The Crusader, a quarterly newspaper based in Harrison, Arkansas and considered as an organ of the Knights Party and runs radio and TV programs through KKKradio.com and WhitePrideTV.com.[3]

Early life

Robb was born in Detroit, Michigan into a Baptist family and grew up in Tucson, Arizona.

Robb's parents shared some political views with Joseph McCarthy, Gerald L. K. Smith, Kenneth Goff, and Conde McGinley. Robb claims to have become awakened to the "Myth of the Holocaust" at the age of 13 while reading Conde McGinley's anti-Communist and antisemitic paper Common Sense which actively promoted Holocaust denial. While still in high school he was an outspoken supporter of segregationist ideals and an active member of the John Birch Society.

Activities

After completing high school he received a scholarship to attend the Soldiers of the Cross Training Institute in Evergreen, Colorado. The school was founded by Dr. Kenneth Goff. Robb attended the school and earned bachelor and doctorate degrees in theology from studies at the school and private tutelage with Dr. Roy Gillaspie of Bellflower, California. It was while in Bellflower, he first became acquainted with Ralph Forbes an associate and west coast organizer of George Lincoln Rockwell's National Socialist White People's Party. Returning to Tucson he began publishing The Message of Old Monthly which he later re-branded as The Torch.

In 1971, Robb relocated to Boone County, Arkansas. He has stated that the reason for the move was to be centrally located in the heartland of America from which he would build his ministry. Robb also has stated that he wanted his children to be raised in a rural environment and his move away from Tucson was a result of a growing awareness of illegal aliens “invading” America.

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 defends the Klan as a harmless organization, claiming that it is "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 it intelligent design," and rejects evolution as "an attack upon our faith."[7] He is the pastor of a church, Christian Revival Center.[8]

Recent attention has focused on his family, such as his daughter Rachel Pendergraft and his granddaughters, Charity and Shelby Pendergraft, who have recently formed a "white nationalist" band called Heritage Connection.[9]

In the early 1990s, Robb began to pioneer the concept that white people were being targeted for genocide, a theme that has gained popularity in recent years among white extremists.

Media

Thomas Robb publishes The Crusader, a quarterly publication, an official publication of The Knights Party or the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. The newspaper also uses the slogans "The Political Voice of White Christian America - The Premier Voice of the White Resistance". Robb also broadcasts on www.KKKradio.com and WhitePrideTV.com.

On 1 November 2016, just days before the US presidential election, Robb wrote an entire front page article under the title "Make America great Again" in The Crusader. The article, devoted to a lengthy defense of Trump’s message, was labeled by some as a de facto endorsement of Donald Trump's presidential campaign. In it, Robb argued that America was founded and that it became great in the first place as a White Christian Republic.

The Donald Trump campaign sharply criticized and denounced The Crusader article.[10]

References

  1. ^ "Rebranding Hate in the Age of Obama". Newsweek. May 4, 2009. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
  2. ^ "Ku Klux Klan files suit against Rhino Times". News & Record (Greensboro). Oct 18, 2006. Retrieved 2008-07-15. [dead link‍]
  3. ^ scribd.com: KKK Newspaper - Trump Endorsement Issue
  4. ^ White Christian Heritage Festival website
  5. ^ Jon Ronson (2001). "New Klan". www.jonronson.com. Archived from the original on 2008-05-15. Retrieved 2008-09-22. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ 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)
  7. ^ "The Trap is Set". Thomas Robb blog. April 24, 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-15.
  8. ^ Christian Identity Church website
  9. ^ "Another Adorable White-Power Sister Act". Southern Poverty Law Center. August 6, 2009. Retrieved 2008-08-15.
  10. ^ See: KKK’s official newspaper supports Donald Trump for president, Washington Post, 2 November 2016. Retrieved 2016-11-02.
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