Meet the black cop who went undercover to infiltrate the KKK by posing as a white supremacist



Ron Stallworth worked his way into a local chapter in Colorado Springs in 1979

He did most of the correspondence over phone and mail

Would change his voice and add racial slurs to be convincing

When needed in person Stallworth would send a 'white cop' friend who would impersonate him

Was able to stop numerous cross burnings and activities of intimidation

A retired black cop has told of how he managed to infiltrate a branch of the Klu Klux Klan in Colorado in the 1970s, becoming so respected he was voted into a leadership position, with other members believing he was a white supremacist.



Ron Stallworth was an investigator for the Colorado Springs Police Department in 1979 when he answered a newspaper ad placed by a new KKK group, who were looking for local members.

Writing about the experience in a new book, Black Klansman, Stallworth explains how the hate group not only made him a member, but voted to make him the chapter's leader after only one year.

'So they took a vote, they took a unanimous vote and they wanted Ron Stallworth to become the leader of the Ku Klux Klan chapter because he was quote loyal and a dedicated Klansman," Stallowrth told Salt Lake City's ABC 4.



Scroll down for video



Undercover agent: Ron Stallworth managed to become a member of the Ku Klux Klan in 1979 while working as an undercover investigator, conducting most of his work on the phone and then sending in a 'white cop' when he needed The Klan trusted Stallworth with their plans to commit crimes, and threaten African Americans by burning crosses, something he put a stop to three times during his investigation. Official: This membership card was signed by then-Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, David Duke Ron Stallworth was an investigator for the Colorado Springs Police Department in 1979 when he infiltrated the KKK

Stallworth said the unlikely undercover mission first started when he spoke to a recruiter over the phone and convinced the man he was white.

Posing as an angry racist, Stallworth explained he felt victimized by minorities and sprinkled his speech with racial slurs.

When it came time to meet face-to-face, he sent a 'white cop' in his place.

'They never once picked up on the fact that they were talking to two distinct voices,' Stallworth said.

Stallworth said he spent about a year gaining the trust of the local hate group's leaders, who told him of planned cross burnings and other intimidation activities.

Stallworth said he foiled at least three cross burnings during his time with the organization by being able to tip off police as to where and when they were occurring.

Watch more of the interview at Pikes Peak Library District TV



A member of the Ku Klux Klan salutes during American Nazi Party rally at Valley Forge National Park September 25, 2004 in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. A new book by Ron Stallworth shares some of the hate group's inner workings Stallworth has just released a book about his undercover experience, called Black Klansman

'One of the things I'm most proud of is no black child, no child period ever had to wake up to a burning cross,' he said.

Stallworth had many phone conversations with then-KKK Grand Wizard David Duke, whose signature was on Stallworth's official KKK code of conduct card.

Once, Duke boasted about how his klan would never be infiltrated by a black man under his watch, Stallworth told NBC News in 2006.

'And I asked him why. He said, ''I can always tell when I'm talking to a black man because they pronounce words and letters a certain way'',' Stallworth told NBC.

'And he said, ''I can tell that you're a pure-blooded white man, because you don't pronounce your words in that manner''.'

'And from that point on, I started pronouncing those words in that manner just to play with him.'

Ku Klux Klan leader Frazier Glenn Miller was caught with his pants down in the back of a car with a black male prositute, who was dressed as a woman, in the 1980s, it was recently revealed

Its the second embarrassment in as many weeks for the KKK, after another past grievance came to light recently.

It surfaced that Ku Klux Klan leader Frazier Glenn Miller was caught with his pants down in the back of a car with a black male prositute, who was dressed as a woman, in the 1980s.