Alabama Ex-KKK Leader and His Mother Indicted Over Cross Burning
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A former Ku Klux Klan "Exalted Cyclops" leader and his mother were indicted this week after the leader allegedly burned a cross at the entrance to a predominantly black neighborhood, then lied to police about it.
According to a Justice press release, in 2009, 28-year-old Steven Joshua Dinkle and a co-conspirator planted a six-foot cross in a predominantly black neighborhood in Ozark, located about 85 miles south of Montgomery.
Authorities say Dinkle then doused the cross with fuel and set it on fire, in an effort to "to threaten and intimidate residents of that neighborhood and thereby interfere with their federally protected housing rights."
When local authorities investigated, Dinkle — who has a photo of his Klan tattoo on his Facebook page — claimed he had quit the KKK, gave a false alibi, and lied about knowing one of his superiors in the KKK. Dinkle's mother, Pamela Morris, is also accused of lying while under oath, making multiple false statements about the crime to a jury.
Authorities finally caught up with Dinkle — who lists his occupation on Facebook as "Fuck Off" at the Southern Peanut Company — at the Hollywood Casino in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.
[image via Facebook]