Klu Klux Klan members aren’t exactly a rarity in the Deep South, but two alleged KKK Florida cops may just be have been serving and protecting for a selective class of citizens, reported the Orlando Sentinel . That’s right, they found the KKK in the police force.
Unfortunately the two men were far from low-level employees — David Borst was the deputy chief of the Fruitland Park police force. Borst stepped down after a family discussion despite denying the allegations that he is a member of the Florida KKK. The second officer accused of KKK membership, George Hunnewell, was dismissed on Friday.
Details about the origin of the KKK cops allegations are scarce. At this point, it has been released the the Federal Bureau of Investigation handed down an official report to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Specifics of the investigation are not known at this time. Fruitland Park chief Terry Isaacs has remained vague about whether or not he has faith that the force was harboring two KKK cops, remarking that he had not personally witnessed any evidence of KKK membership.
It’s a tough situation. He was my assistant… I’m not saying I believe him. I’m not saying I don’t believe him. But I’ve read the report, and it’s convincing.
Isaacs was, however, less positive about the situation with Hunnewell, who had received five “letters of counseling” in the last year alone.
I just had no faith in him.
Although Isaac initially only revealed that the two men were part of an unnamed subversive organization, Chief Deputy State Attorney Ric Ridgway confirmed that the report named the two as KKK cops.
It’s not a crime to be a member of the KKK, even if you are the deputy chief. It’s not a crime to be stupid… It’s not a crime to hate people. It may be despicable, it may be immoral, but it’s not a crime.
Fruitland Park’s police department is actually living a déjà vu of a former KKK cop scandal nightmare. In 2009, Officer James Elkins was found to be a recruiter for the National Aryan Knights of the KKK. Elkins had been receiving and sending KKK literature surreptitiously using a P.O. Box, reported Gawker .
Counseling is being offered to the remaining members of the police force, most of whom were trained by the alleged Florida KKK police force deputy Borst. Isaacs remarked that the news was weighing heavily on the officers.
They’re a good group of people… The last thing I was expecting to hear in the year 2014 was for a professional law-enforcement officer to be a member of a subversive organization.
