A U.S. Army veteran who spent 10 years undercover in the Ku Klux Klan said officials need to root out members of the domestic terrorism organization from law enforcement agencies.
Joseph Moore told the Associated Press that he helped foil two murder plots and revealed efforts to recruit members for law enforcement positions. Moore helped the FBI identify Klansmen that were law enforcement officers.
Joseph Moore is shown in a video.
If you want to know why people don't trust the police, it's because they have a relative or friend who is an extremists and they see them being targeted. I know that this has happened. Moore told AP News that he stopped a murder plot.
Moore stopped a plot by three members of the Florida chapter of the Traditionalist American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan to kill a Black man. The three men were among a group of other officer-Klan members at the Reception and Medical Center in Lake Butler, Florida.
When he attended Klan meetings, Moore wore a wire and recorded video and kept a record of license plate numbers.
Dozens of law enforcement officers were involved with the Klan and outlaw motorcycle clubs, according to Moore. While undercover in the United Northern and Southern Knights of the KKK in North Florida, Moore identified a detention officer with the Alachua County Sheriff's Office.
Kerschner, who worked four years at the jail in Gainesville, confirmed his membership in the Klan when he was investigated by investigators. He defended the KKK as a faith-based organization after admitting to writing on a KKK blog. Moore stopped the members of that chapter from killing a Hispanic man.
None of the agencies have any control over it, I can tell you from where I sat. Moore said that it is more consequential than any of them would admit.
According to the FBI, domestic terrorism is criminal acts committed by individuals and groups to further ideological goals stemming from domestic influences.
Some of the FBI's work in fighting violent activity by the KKK dates back to 1915.
The FBI wrote that white supremacist groups have historically tried to recruit from law enforcement. The agency said some in law enforcement sympathize with white supremacist causes.
Moore said he never adopted the Klan's racist ideology. He said he did not use racial slurs. The AP never heard Moore use the derogatory language.
The Florida Department ofCorrections has denied that there are wider connections to white supremacist groups. The agency's inspector general investigates every allegation of wrongdoing.
More than 18,000 correctional officers throughout the state work as public servants, committed to the safety of Florida's communities. The department said in an email to AP News that they shouldn't be defamed by the actions of three individuals who committed illegal acts several years prior.
Moore said that the statement was incorrect because he has identified many active Klan members and those applying to the agency.
White supremacist groups have been warned by the FBI about their attempts to saturate law enforcement agencies. In a 2006 bulletin, the federal agency warned about hate group members who don't display their beliefs in order to blend into society and advance white supremacist causes.
Moore said he feared for his life many times. Since ending the FBI operation, he and his family have adopted new names and live in hiding.
He fears the Klan will retaliate against him. He told the AP that there have been people at his house connected to the Klan. He has a gun with him wherever he goes.
Moore said he has mental health issues and has to deal with the psychological toll of his encounters during the Klan operation.
We had to change our names. We have had our address placed in a state of confidentiality. Moore said that there are people who have investigative capacities that have tracked them.
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