Chris Hayes interviewed KKK Grand Wizard Frank Ancona tonight in a disturbing segment. A Ferguson, MO grand jury decision is soon expected in the killing of unarmed teenager Michael Brown by police officer Darren Wilson, and the community’s potential reaction has been a hotly discussed topic. Ancona’s local hate affiliate calls itself the “Traditionalist American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan,” and has been distributing fliers in Ferguson, warning of “lethal force” against protesters.
Hayes asked Ancona about his group’s decision to distribute the fliers, the community’s reception, and whether or not he felt they were incendiary. The klansman’s response was predictable in its rambling unsubstantiated accusations and alarming anecdotes. The really interesting piece, though, came when the wizard was asked whether or not he was in communication with law enforcement. The conversation went something like this:
CH: Have you been talking to law enforcement?
FA: I have.
CH: What are those conversations like?
FA: You know, well, uh, depending on who you talk to and, of course, you know all these things are off the record, but a lot of ’em are very frustrated with, you know, how the governor has basically sided with the criminals in a lot of instances they have to stand there and get bottles of urine thrown at them…
CH: Wait a second, Frank, you have law enforcement talking to you off the record, confiding in you… As a Grand Wizard of the KKK, you’re telling me you have local law enforcement talking to you personally off the record?
FA: No I’m telling you I have friends who know people in law enforcement. I’ll just put it that way.
CH: Oh, you have friends of.. yeah, uh huh.
FA: Right, right, and anyway…
And pivot. Near the end of that exchange, Chris was obviously very skeptical of Ancona’s story which was being stepped back in real time. But was that because he said something true that he shouldn’t have, or simply because he was lying about being in contact with law enforcement? A cynic would say the first.
What do you think? Check it out below–the KKK segment begins at 1:45 and the portion of conversation transcribed above is at about 4:50.
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