Friday, June 12, 2020

'Byron De La Beckwith Told Me He Killed Medgar Evers'

From the Archives

In Memory of Medgar Evers
(July 2, 1925 - June 12, 1963)

THE G-MAN INTERVIEWS: SCOTT SHEPHERD

'Reformed Racist' Targeted for Death After Revealing
Ku Klux Klan and White Nationalists Secrets
 
By Gary Glennell Toms

If they were organizations or individuals with white racist views, Scott Shepherd was closely associated with them. Shepherd, who spent the early part of his life in Mississippi and Texas, attended college in Mississippi and Georgia. After graduating, he relocated to Memphis, Tennessee; where he was introduced to the white nationalist movement and went on to obtain a high-ranking leadership position within a number of white nationalist organizations.
 

Shepherd was also a member of the Ku Klux Klan and served as Imperial Wizard, Grand Wizard, and national leader of the Omerta Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. His other affiliations included the National Association for the Advancement of White People and The European-American Unity Rights Organization, both founded by former Louisiana Congressman and Klansman David Duke. In effort to teach what he described as "uneducated" whites about the movement, Shepherd created The National White Rights Association and The White Rights Organization.
 

The Mississippi native also had connections to "pro-white" organizations in South Africa and other countries. These connections included extremist and anti-government groups. Some were labeled militia or mercenary groups and were considered paramilitary, such as The Civilian Material Assistance Group (CMA), an anti-government and anti-Communist organization with operations in Central America.
 

Shepherd was a candidate for state representative and governor in the state of Tennessee in the late 80's and early 90's and proudly campaigned as a white nationalist.
 

Today, Scott Shepherd has a very different view on race in America and has chosen to speak out against the white nationalist movement and other racist organizations he loved and supported. The man who spent the majority of his life vehemently campaigning for racial separation has become an advocate for racial harmony...and the recipient of numerous death threats from individuals and organizations associated with the white nationalist movement. Despite the threats to his life, he is determined to prevent others, especially young people, from falling victim to the propaganda and recruitment tactics used by the white nationalist movement and other racist groups.
 

This exclusive interview was conducted on November 16, 2013.

CORRECTION: I stated in this episode that former Klansman David Duke was governor of Louisiana, but Duke actually served in the House of Representatives. I knew this, but for some strange reason I said governor while recording the opening segment.

Scott Shepherd photos courtesy of Scott Shepherd

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