Former KKK Grand Dragon John Paul Rogers Mayoral Candidate in Lake Wales, FL, Won't Apologize or Denounce Ties to Racist Group

John Paul Rogers, former Ku Klux Klan Grand Dragon, mayoral candidate in Lake Wales, FL, won't apologize or denounce ties to racist and hateful group. Says he resigned 30 years ago.

Former Ku Klux Klan Grand Dragon John Paul Rogers is a mayoral candidate in Lake Wales, Florida. Er, who their right mind would vote for someone who was a card-carrying member of the KKK? Oh, wait. The late Sen. Robert Byrd didn't have a problem being reelected many times over despite his KKK past. Rogers currently serves as a commissioner and now wants to step up his political game. Hah. He told 10 News Tuesday, "I'm not running for the Klan for Grand Dragon." But that's not something you can sweep under a rug and ignore. Nooooo. He was a leader in the KKK and I am sure still has some racist buddies running around Florida.

He says, "Well I resigned years ago, about 30 years ago. Jesus said, 'He who is without sin, let him cast the first stone,' and so far no one's hit me with a rock. I don't know of any act of any violence that was sanctioned by our organization, either national or in Florida."

But Darryl Paulson, a USF professor, who is an expert in the Klan, points to a case in which two Klansman with the United Klans of America were convicted of attacking 19-year-old Michael Donald in 1981 in Mobile, Alabama. Donald was beaten up and his throat was cut.

Paulson says, "They hung him from a tree and they were sued in court and the civil judgment was launched against the United Klans of America. The jury awarded a six million dollar settlement to the mother of the slain child."

Click here to learn more about the civil case.

He adds, "When Rogers says he resigned. He had no other choice. The United Klans couldn't pay off the six million dollar settlement but they lost their headquarters. Their headquarters was sold as part of the judgement so in essence they were forced out of business. They were financially bankrupt."

Paulson says, "I think that they were the most violent of the Klan organizations. I think their fingerprints are on a lot of different things that happened - most of them negative with respect to racial incidents during the 1950's and 1960's. Rogers had to know there was no way he couldn't know it." Source: 10 News

I know people can change, but it seems Mr. Rogers was forced to change by a multi-million dollar lawsuit, not because he realized the error of his ways. On that basis, he doesn't deserve to be the next mayor of Lake Wales. He said "let he is who is without sin cast the first stone," I hope he feels that way about everything if he is elected and have selective memory.

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