KKK Wizard’s Secret Tape Played at Man’s Death-Ray Trial
Robert Gavin, Times Union, August 18, 2015
Glendon Scott Crawford visited a North Carolina-based imperial wizard of the Ku Klux Klan in 2012 hoping to win support for a mobile death ray he allegedly planned to use on Muslims–unaware the high-ranking Klan leader was working for the FBI.
Chris Barker, leader of the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, showed no loyalty to Crawford as he secretly tape-recorded the 51-year-old Crawford, a reputed Klansman from Saratoga County, on Aug. 24, 2012. It was one day before the so-called wizard was to hold a national Klan rally at a rural location straddling the border of North Carolina and Virginia.
Crawford courted the Klan leader, describing President Barack Obama on the recording as a “treasonous bed wetter we got hijacking the White House.” As for himself, Crawford said friends view him as a “cross between Darth Vader and Forrest Gump.”
But Crawford’s primary focus was the alleged device.
“If you’re the imperial wizard, you’re probably in touch with lots of other imperial wizards. Get them together for a chit-chat,” Crawford told Barker. “See the potential here? We could stomp the (expletive) new world order out of (expletive) existence. ”
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Barker’s recording was played Tuesday during the second day of Crawford’s trial on terrorism-related charges before Chief Judge Gary Sharpe in U.S. District Court. He faces at least 15 years in prison if convicted. {snip}
Crawford initially reached the imperial wizard in July after calling a Klan hotline number and sending the Klan an email explaining he was interested in “restoring our nation to greatness.”
Barker, who was facing felony charges, went to the FBI in Charlotte to inform it of Crawford’s call. Agents there checked and saw that Crawford was the subject of an investigation by the bureau’s Albany office. The FBI wired him to surreptitiously record Crawford as he spoke to Barker on a phone call.
“I think you’ll find it to be your cup of tea,” Crawford said, coyly referring to the mobile death ray device.
On the eve of the Klan rally–which ballyhooed awards and a “cross lighting”–Crawford suggested to Barker that the device, if properly used, “could kill the entire United Nations.”
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[Editor’s Note: FBI informant Chris Barker, mentioned in the story above, was also responsible for organizing a “Klan rally” in July at the South Carolina statehouse in support of the Confederate flag.]
