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Ron Stallworth, the first African American detective in the Colorado Springs Police Department, held a discussion and book signing for his book “Black Klansman,” at Barns and Noble in Sunland Park on Saturday, February 9.
Stallworth, an El Paso native, is known for his infiltration of the Ku Klux Klan in Colorado Springs back in the late 1970s. After seeing an ad in the local newspaper, seeking new members for a new chapter in the KKK, Stallworth decided to call the number that was listed and pose as a racist white man.
“I spiced it up a little bit. I said, my sister is dating a black guy and every time he puts his filthy black hands on her pure white body, it makes me cringe. I want to stop the abuse on the white race” Stallworth told a KKK member. “His response to me was, your just the kind of guy were looking for.”
After that conversation, Stallworth launched a seven and a half month undercover investigation into the KKK. Stallworth’s book explains exactly what he went through during the investigation.
He would talk to KKK members over the phone, while a colleague of his named Chuck, would pose as Stallworth during face to face meetings. Chuck was Caucasian therefore, he was a great fit for Stallworth’s investigation. The KKK members never realized they were dealing with two different people.
During the investigation, Stallworth became a member of the KKK and was given a membership card that was made by the leader of the KKK at the time, David Duke. Stallworth did not hesitate to show his audience the membership card that he keeps in his wallet.
Stallworth’s book was portrayed on the big screen in the Oscar-nominated film, “Blackkklansman,” directed by Spike Lee.
During the event, he also spoke about President Donald Trump’s urge to build a wall along the border. He found many things Trump says about border immigration control very similar to what KKK leader, David Duke told him in the late 1970s.
“In one of my conversations back in 1978, one of his master plans was border immigration control,
” Stallworth said. “I was hearing from David Duke 40 years ago, the exact same thing that that fool was talking about during the lead up to the election.”
The event was held at a local Barnes and Nobles where they were more than happy to host the event.
“We are very excited to host Ron Stallworth,” said Francesca Moore, community business development manager.. “We always like to have a place for authors to introduce their book
