Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

366 • KU KLUX KLANblack girls, an event that horrified the nation. When he was originallyarrested and tried, Chambliss was convicted only for illegal possessionof explosives. Following his retrial in 1977, he was convictedfor the murder of the young girls and sentenced to life imprisonment.While it once boasted the largest membership of the three Klan factions,the UKA suffered a great reverse when Beulah Donald, themother of Michael Donald, a UKA lynching victim, successfullysued the UKA for $7 million in civil damages in 1987. This groupwas forced to dissolve itself as a result of that action. One of the twoperpetrators of the Donald lynching, Henry Hayes, was executed on6 June 1997, the first time a Klan member had ever been executed forthe murder of a black American in the 20th-century south.2. The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (KKKK), named after therevived Klan of 1915, was established in 1975 by former neo-NaziDavid Duke. This Klan group is among the most recent and is made uplargely of people born after the Korean War. This organization has alsoproved itself most adept at using media relations and mass-marketingtechniques to sell its message and recruit members. Duke yielded leadershipof the KKKK to Don Black in 1980. The more revolutionarynature of the younger Klan groups is illustrated by Don Black’s conspiracy,thwarted in April 1981, to carry out a coup d’état on the Caribbeanisland of Dominica, which he had planned to turn into a Klansafe haven. Following Black’s arrest and conviction, the KKKK brokeinto two factions. Nonetheless, this group has shown great adaptability,vitality, and ability to recruit new younger members.3. The Invisible Empire (IE) was established in 1975 as a breakawaygroup from the KKKK, which struck many Klansmen as beingtoo overtly neo-Nazi. The IE membership was opened to white RomanCatholics. This organization suffered loss of membership whenits founder, William Wilkinson, was exposed as a Federal Bureau ofInvestigation (FBI) informant. The IE had 1,500 to 2,000 membersnationwide when it was forced to file for reorganization under federalbankruptcy laws.Besides these three groups, there are almost 200 splinter groupsand independent Klan organizations. In the latest phase of the secondrevival of the Klan (i.e., since 1954) the newer Klan groupshave identified themselves closely with the Identity Christianitymovement and shown less hesitation in identifying themselves withneo-Nazi groups. These Klans have established paramilitary training