The KKK are growing in numbers, say members (Picture: Channel4/Barcroft)

These unsettling pictures show that the Ku Klux Klan are still very much alive.

As you’re probably already aware, the KKK are the most notorious hate group in America.

But you might not know, the racist organisation continue to thrive, even in modern times.

A documentary crew got close to the group, exposing their bizarre rituals which involve slipping into hooded robes and chanting around a fire.


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New recruits are sworn in to the hate group (Picture: Channel 4/Barcroft)

The initiation ceremony is extremely secretive (Picture: Channel 4/Barcroft)

Disturbing images show how kids as young as 12 – who haven’t yet been sworn into the group – watching the rituals.



British director Dan Vernon spent seven months with Klansmen and women of the Traditionalist American Knights – who claim to be the fastest-growing Klan in the country.

Three members – one who works as a prison officer – were arrested back in April, charged with conspiring to kill a black ex-inmate.

The film crew spent months with Klansmen and women (Picture: Channel 4/Barcroft)

Rituals often involve chanting around fires (Picture: Channel 4/Barcroft)

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Vernon said: ‘What we uncovered was truly shocking. Anyone who thinks the Klan is a remnant of a bygone America will be disturbed to learn their numbers are growing.

‘It’s very unsettling to imagine that while America is taking steps to heal the injustices of its past, there are groups out there whose beliefs are likely to further inflame racial divisions, to their own gain.’

The documentary will show how new recruits are ‘naturlized’ in a secretive initiation ceremony.

Three members of the group were recently arrested for conspiring to murder a black person (Picture: Channel 4/Barcroft)

The crew’s fniding will be aired on Channel 4 tomorrow (Picture: Channel 4/Barcroft)

It’s currently a pretty pivotal time for race relations in the States – only a month has passed since nine people were gunned down in a predominantly black church in Charleston.

After the hate crime, President Barack Obama claimed that just because people have stopped using the N-word in public doesn’t mean that racism is resolved.

He said: ‘Race relations have improved significantly during my lifetime. Opportunities have opened up and attitudes have changed. If we made as much progress over the next 10 years as over the last 50, things would be better.’

Tune into Channel 4 tomorrow (Monday July 13) at 10pm to catch Inside The Ku Klux Klan.