Jeff Berry (Ku Klux Klan)
Jeff Berry (died May 31, 2013, age 64), former leader of the American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in Butler, Indiana, was sentenced to seven years in prison on December 4, 2001 for conspiracy to commit criminal confinement with a deadly weapon. The charges stemmed from a 1999 incident in which Berry refused to allow a local reporter and a photographer to leave his home following an interview.[1]
In an interview, Berry identified himself as the Klan's "national imperial wizard. [2] In a book written by his former assistant and now former Klansman, Brad Thompson, Berry's Klan is described as "a gigantic financial rip-off designed to line the pockets of its top leadership."[3] He later left the Klan 6 months after Jacob Holdt, a Danish Photographer, made a documentary with him about racism. [1] After leaving the Klan, Berry was assaulted physically by other Klan members which resulted in him becoming blind and invalid.
Books
- Thompson, Brad and Worth Weller. Under The Hood: Unmasking the Modern Ku Klux Klan ISBN 978-0-9668231-0-3 Thompson is the former Indiana 'grand dragon' of the American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Weller is a journalist.
Death
On June 7, 2013, the Southern Poverty Law Center reported that Berry had died from lung cancer, on May 31, 2013 in a hospital in Cook County, Illinois.[4]
References
- ^ Leader of the American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan sentenced
- ^ Berry says he is Klan's 'national imperial wizard
- ^ Thompson, Brad and worth Weller. Under the Hood: Unmasking the Modern Ku Klux Klan.
- ^ Jeff Berry, Former Klan Leader, Dies at 64
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