Original subtitles

-In the name of

Jesus. - Jesus. Thank you, God.

- In the name of Jesus. - Hallelujah.

-Jesus!

-Pray for these Black Lives Matter groups.

Lord, forgive them for their evil, wicked ways.

-Amen!

Amen! - Back the Blue.

[ Applause ]

♪♪

- White power! - White power!

-If slavery didn't happen,

they would not be in America, enjoying the freedoms

that they do now.

-Same old story since the '60s.

It's the Blacks.

What's their problem?!

-So we're going for justice and, when you get there,

you see the KKK.

-It's out of the woods now.

-[ Chanting ] Black Lives Matter!

Black Lives! - You won't acknowledge the fact

Black lives haven't mattered

as much as white lives? - Of course they mattered.

-So say that.

-[ Crying ] He was point-blank murdered.

They murdered my son and he... They got by with it.

-How is that not the legalization of lynching?

-There's a big, giant, silent majority

of people just like us that are ready

to put them down, if they come around here.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

-I'm somewhere in Southern Indiana

or Northern Kentucky.

With me is Anthony Karen,

the documentary photographer who has been capturing the lives

of the modern-day Ku Klux Klan for over a decade.

♪♪

Today, he's bringing us to meet a group of them.

They've insisted on the blindfold.

♪♪

[ Dog barks ]

This is how it ends. - Step, step.

♪♪

[ Dog barks ] - Good?

- Yes. - Wow.

[ Barks ] We made it to where we were going.

I don't still really know where that is.

I was blindfolded the whole way.

We're waiting for a couple of new members

and then, I think there's going to be a rally of some sort

and then, a cross lighting.

♪♪

-This is part of what we're standing up for...

Our freedom, life, and liberty,

pursuit of happiness.

It's being took away from us every single day

and that's why I joined the KKK.

♪♪

-So we're in the Klan's backyard.

We've decided not to use the name

of this particular Klan group for this film

because we don't want to platform them.

We really don't want them to use

the name of the group to boost recruitment.

-We're gonna lock this compound down,

just in case nobody comes and tries to mess with our shit

while we're gone.

Go ahead and lock that down.

-Dog's in there.

-Dog in there? He can stay in there.

- Yeah. - He gonna stay there?

-And, when we get there, though, guys,

we march single-file down the sidewalk.

I mean single-file.

If any pedestrians come, if someone walks up in your face

and calls you a racist piece of shit,

you kill them with kindness, kill them with kindness.

"I'm sorry you feel that way, sir.

I'm sorry you feel that way, ma'am."

That'll piss them off even more.

We're ready to roll. Everybody know where they're riding?

[ Indistinct conversation ]

♪♪

-Where are we going right now?

-We're going to the White Lives Matter march.

If anything, whites have something to be angry about

because our rights are getting taken away now.

-What rights are being taken away?

-Uh, just like, for instance, uh,

at my place of employment,

it's a policy that we have to have

at least one minority every shift,

no matter how well he's good at the job.

-Okay. So how else are your rights being taken away?

-Let's say, around the holidays, you know,

you have people that say like, say Merry Christmas.

Somebody might take that offensive

because that excludes people.

Well, you know what? I'm a Christian.

I say Merry Christmas.

-Someone took away your right to say Merry Christmas?

-It's... It's not... It's in the process...

Yeah, go left up there.

Yeah, left. - So you're in the Klan

so you can still say Merry Christmas?

-I joined the Klan to be a part of a brotherhood,

to be a part of a fraternity, to be a part of a movement

that is like-minded like me.

The Klan is an ancient tradition that we cannot let die.

Like a piece of your life die, you know?

♪♪

Alright, everybody single-file up here on the sidewalk.

Showtime.

♪♪

♪♪

-I've spent the last 10 years of my life trying

to understand the white supremacist movement in America,

both as a journalist

and as an investigator

at the ADL Center on Extremism.

What I've seen is a movement that ebbs and flows.

For as long as I've studied it, the Klan has been ebbing,

yet, diehards remain.

- White power! - White power!

-White power.

- White power! - White power!

-Want to get a picture with us?

-2, 3.

[ Camera shutter clicks ] - Alright.

-Thank you very much. Thank you.

-Alright. Thank you.

-So, they're in their big rally.

[ Vehicle horn honks ] There's about seven of them,

but there's no one else here.

No one gives a shit.

There's not a soul here. - White power!

- White power! - White power!

♪♪

How important is religion to the Klan?

-Christianity is the basis of this.

Even our rituals are all Christian-based.

When you become a member,

on the altar, there is... There's a cross.

There is a... There's a Bible.

We are the spiritual, ideological soldiers

for keeping the white culture safe.

♪♪

-Tell us a little bit about what's about to happen.

-Well, it's a Ku Klux Klan

traditional cross-lighting ceremony's about to happen.

Uh, we got... - You call it a cross-lighting.

You don't call it a cross-burning?

- No. - Why is that?

♪♪

What are these things?

-Those are the torches.

That's what we use to bring forth the light of Christ.

-And these will be dipped in kerosene or something?

-Yes.

We'll wait 'til dark, about dusk,

and they'll commence the ceremonies.

♪♪

-Are you a racist? Do you believe

the white race is better?

-I believe the white culture is better.

So our culture built this country.

If it wasn't for whites,

Blacks would not be enjoying the technology

and the comforts that they have here in America today.

-So white people did them a favor...

- Yes. - Essentially, by

enslaving them and then

- Exactly. - Subsequently setting them free?

-None of their daddies were slaves.

None of their grandpas were slaves.

Maybe their great-grandpas. - But, so, so you, so you

won't acknowledge the fact that there has been a time

in the history of this country

where Black lives haven't mattered

as much as white lives? - Of course they mattered.

The Southern economy woulda sucked... - So say that.

The way that I see it, right now, anybody that's

out there, saying Black Lives Matter

are the same ones burning down the cities.

Why are they burning down their cities? You think burning down a city

is gonna get them what they want?

-What will get them what they want, though?

-I'll give them what they want, if they come out here.

- What do they want, huh? - If they come out here,

they want nothing but trouble.

They want nothing but trouble.

[ Motor sputtering ]

[ Revving ]

♪♪

-[ Speaks indistinctly ]

♪♪

♪♪

-We ask God to anoint this cross, as we raise it,

to become a symbol of the light of Christ

that destroys the darkness and evil.

♪♪

-The point of the Ku Klux Klan is

to preserve racial white purity.

There's a big, giant, silent majority of people just like us.

They may not be in the Klan, but there's a very large,

silent majority of white Americans

that are ready to put them down, if they come around here.

♪♪

-The history of the Klan is divided into roughly three eras.

The first was immediately following the Civil War

and consisted of a terror campaign

that pitted the Klan against everyone who attempted

to improve the lives of Black people.

The Klan reemerged in 1915

and grew to become five to nine million members.

♪♪

Forty thousand Klansmen

famously marched on Washington, D.C. in 1926.

The third wave of the Klan

coincided with the civil rights era.

In 1963,

Klan members planted dynamite

under the 16th Street Baptist Church

in Birmingham, Alabama,

killing four young girls,

sparking outrage and helping spur the passage

of the Civil Rights Act.

The Klan never fully recovered

from the victories of the civil rights era.

The ADL estimates that there are no more

than 2,000 Klan members nationwide,

but it still maintains a presence

on the American stage.

In 2016,

then-candidate Donald Trump caused controversy

when it seemed like he was not refusing

an endorsement from former KKK leader David Duke.

-You know, I know nothing about David Duke.

I know nothing about white supremacists

and so you're asking me a question

that I'm supposed to be talking

about people that I know nothing about.

-Okay. I mean, I'm just talking about David Duke

and the Ku Klux Klan, here, but...

-Trump later did disavow the Klan's endorsement.

-I didn't even know he endorsed me.

David Duke endorsed me? - Yes, David Duke

endorsed you. - Alright. I disavow, okay?

♪♪

-It seems the Klan refuses to go away.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

-[ Speaking indistinctly ]

♪♪

[ Dog barks ]

♪♪

-For the white race!

For the Ku Klux Klan!

♪♪

[ Flames crackling ]

♪♪

- White power! - White power!

- White power! - White power!

- White power! - White power!

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

[ Flames crackling ]

-While many members of the Klan wish to hide behind masks,

some are much more open about their affiliation.

♪♪

We're in Tennessee.

We're on our way to see Bill Potts.

Bill is a Klan leader.

He's an imperial wizard with a...

With a group here and he and his wife

have invited us over to their place to talk.

♪♪

Bill Potts leads what he claims

is the biggest KKK group in America.

Got a lot of cats, Bill.

-Yeah. I've got the reputation of being known

as the old man that lives up on the hill,

that's got all kinds of pussy.

♪♪

-Is this your Klan wall?

-Yeah.

These are certificates

that I've earned through my career as Klan

for 38 years.

In Klan, we have different degrees you earn.

My first degree is called K-Uno. - Is it like karate,

like you get a belt, but you don't get a belt...

- Yeah. - You get a degree?

- Yeah. It's... It's... - Okay.

-It's your level of knowledge.

-I understand you're also a member of the Klan?

How long have you been a part of the Klan?

-Just about a month.

- Yeah. - About a month?

So you're pretty... - We just got married.

- Yeah. - Oh, congratulations!

- Thank you. - It's like a KKK love story.

[ Laughter ]

-Yeah, if you want to call it that.

♪♪

-The colors and patches on these robes

speak to the Klan's complex system of hierarchy,

designed to exclude anyone

who isn't a white Christian male.

What's the role of a woman in the KKK?

-The women's role was more or less

kind of like the housewife [ Chuckling ] role.

I hope I'll never see it in my time...

A woman imperial wizard.

- Why? - Are you... Are you... Are you married?

- I-I-I have a partner, yes. - Oh, okay.

Uh, when you said partner, are you gay?

-Would it change anything,

if I was? - No, it wouldn't, no.

Are you gay? - No.

-Oh. Oh, you're not?

She's a woman? - As far as I know.

-I assume that she still has her periods, right?

- I think so. - Yeah.

Man, you can't get along with them!

You imagine a woman being a leader in the Klan

and, all of a sudden, she's on her period?

[ Laughs ] She knows what I'm saying.

[ Laughter ] Yelling at her.

There won't be no woman imperial wizard.

- Wizardress. - Yeah.

- Yeah. - Uh.

-So why... why are you guys in the Klan?

-To live by our culture, by our heritage,

and remember how it used to be in our country.

Things were great.

When integration came about,

the civil rights movement,

crime rate shot up, it tripled,

just in a couple years.

That's them.

Same old story since the '60s.

It's the Blacks.

-So where does the Klan come

into all this? What's your part, then,

in what's been happening? - We're fighters against that.

-So you want... you want segregation to come back?

-Yes, I would. I would.

Because segregation worked once before.

- For who? - Uh,

it would work again for our country.

-For whites in our country.

-For whites and for Blacks.

-Are you a racist, Bill?

-No. I see that, right now,

the Blacks are acting more racist than the whites are.

They've had the opportunities.

They have more rights than the white man has.

So what is their problem?

[ Scoff ] What's their problem?!

Explain that one to me.

What is their problem? Answer that for me.

-They're looking for some kind of end

to what they see as systemic racism.

There's still a legacy of... of...

Of white supremacy and racism in this country

and that's what they're upset about.

The Klan still inspires terror in a lot of people.

No matter if you guys see yourselves as violent or not,

you have to admit it scares the shit out of a lot of people.

-It scares them because they do not understand.

- Sure, okay. - They don't know.

-Would you say that, with the diminished numbers

that the Klan has today,

that the fear of the Klan is more powerful today

than the actual Klan itself?

- Yes. - Yes.

-Yes.

-And what does that mean? What does that tell us?

- You tell me. - I think it means that

that's part of the reason

that you guys maintain your robes...

Because it gives you something for free.

-Can't give us the upper hand

[ Indistinct ] - I think it makes... I think

it makes you guys bigger than you are.

- Yeah. - You know,

it's almost a reversal, here.

One time, that's the fear that they had in Klan, long ago.

Today it's the fear of the Black man.

-Amen.

-So the Black man has become the Klan?

- Yeah. - Right. They're the racists.

We're not. We're looking for a peaceful solution.

I believe it. Do you believe it?

You believe there's a peaceful solution?

♪♪

-Doesn't look like that way.

This is the Klan of today,

small groups, sharing secret ceremonies

in backwoods across America.

But the KKK's powerful legacy of hate lives on in other ways.

Take Baker County, Florida, for example.

We're in the Baker County Courthouse,

in... in Baker County, Florida,

about half an hour west of Jacksonville.

This is a mural that was painted

in the early 2000s by a local historian.

Now, this thing like contains a ton of stuff.

Basically, it's supposed to be the whole history

of... of... of Baker County.

But a lot of people do feel like it shouldn't be

in a place of prominence in a courthouse.

I think that the crux of the problem is

this little vignette up here.

If you like look all the way up there...

♪♪

It's three Klan figures.

♪♪

♪♪

-This is Macclenny, Florida,

the seat of Baker County

and about an hour from Jacksonville.

It's a bucolic small town

with a charming main street, neat houses,

and a dark past.

It was once a hot spot of KKK activity.

Today, Baker County, like many American communities,

has found itself bitterly divided over two slogans...

Black Lives Matter

and Blue Lives Matter.

-Back the blue, baby!

- [ Laughing ] - That's what we do in Baker!

We love our sheriff! - You're showing the love.

-Here, the Blue Lives Matter side

enjoys massive support from the public

and the grateful handshakes of the county sheriff.

- Y'all doing alright? - Yes, sir, we are.

-On the other side of town,

the Black Lives Matter protests face a different reality.

-[ Chanting ] Black Lives Matter!

-[ Chanting ] Black Lives Matter!

-Black Lives Matter!

-Black Lives Matter! [ Horn honking ]

-Black Lives Matter!

-[ Both shouting indistinctly ]

-There's a lot more law enforcement here

than at the courthouse, now. - Yeah, yeah.

- [ Shouts indistinctly ] - We have some protests

[ Horns honking ] and a counter protest, which,

That's usually what brings us,

[ Cacophony of honking horns ] to make sure that

we're all safe.

-How do these protesters feel

about you guys? Do you know?

-I don't know. I don't talk to them.

- Okay. - They don't like to talk to me,

so I don't talk to them.

- Black Lives Matter! - This county is over 81% white

- Black Lives Matter! - and overwhelmingly conservative.

- Black Lives Matter! - But a small group

- Black Lives Matter! - of Black Lives Matter supporters

have taken to the streets to protest, among other things,

that mural, proudly featuring the Ku Klux Klan,

still hanging in the local courthouse.

-Local groups are calling for the removal

of a mural they say is offensive.

Dozens of people gathered in front

of the Baker County Courthouse today,

demanding this mural, featuring three KKK members,

be taken down.

-They chanted and held signs

as a plane flew overhead,

carrying their message.

♪♪

-At a time when monuments to the Confederacy

are being torn down across the country,

a mural featuring the Ku Klux Klan...

In a courthouse, no less...

Seems particularly jarring.

But, apparently, not everyone in Baker County

feels the same way.

State Representative Chuck Brannan

was one of the officials who commissioned this mural

back in 2001.

Right outside this door is this big, big mural

that has the history of Baker County

and there's a lot of controversy around this... this mural.

Can you talk us through it a little bit?

What's the... What's the big deal?

-Uh, there's... There's a small panel,

uh, uh, uh,

referencing some Ku Klux Klan activity.

The artist wanted to... To represent

the history of the county, the good and the bad.

-And there's been controversy around it

pretty much since it was hung?

-It's came up, probably,

two or three times in the last 19 or 20 years, I guess.

-How do... You knew the artist, right?

- I did. - You can't view

1860 and 1870 history

through a 2020 prism.

He winds up that mural

with this centennial celebration

with, uh, all races.

In fact, I think the artist

was trying to paint a picture

that he thought that citizens would be proud of,

to have in their courthouse.

-The country is going through some kind

of reckoning, right now, right? Would you agree with that?

We're having these necessary debates,

across the country, I would say,

about racial relationships, about monuments,

about Confederate flags... All kinds of things.

As an elected representative,

do you feel like you're able to see both sides of this?

Can you... Can you understand? - We... We try to do that.

But I'm not saying it should be there or it shouldn't be there

or it should be down or up. I'm just telling you

that's the history of it.

-Do you think it's not so much the mural,

but the mural has become, um,

a symptom of something much more profound,

a... a... a debate that we... We need to have?

-The debate about... police -About how we...

-or what debate are we talking about?

-About how we represent our... our history,

about how we deal with our history.

-And the reason I threw the police into it...

It seemed to start, of course,

from the police incident.

That's the... the thing that set this off.

-[ Chanting ] His life! His life!

-It always amazes me that there's about 340 million

police-citizen encounters in the country every year

and we, uh, we boil it down to two or three

and, uh, and begin to argue about those

and... and blow it into... To whatever it becomes.

[ Shouting indistinctly ]

-I think, if people take the emotion out of it

and look at how each piece of our history

has got us to where we are today.

When they had the civil war, the country was 80 years old

and I think that war, through bloodshed,

solved a lot of questions for the country.

You know, I've looked at that painting a thousand times.

I always have to look for that part of it.

It's so hard to find. Even though I know...

I kinda know where it is, I'm always...

I say, "Where is that? Oh, there it is."

It's just such a small part.

Everybody has an opinion

and everybody's entitled to their opinion.

♪♪

-While the Ku Klux Klan may not have

the presence in Baker County that it once had,

the tensions, the fear, and the anger

that stretches back to the days of slavery can still be felt.

Is race an issue in Baker County?

-No. I don't feel like it is.

- No? - Absolutely not.

I don't think we have any race issues in Baker County,

to be honest with you, and that's how I feel.

- Black Lives Matter! - White Lives Matter!

All Lives Matter!

-Black Lives Matter!

-My daughter has received messages

on Snapchat, saying, "All half-breed n-words

should be killed in Baker County."

-Black Lives Matter!

-Black Lives Matter!

[ Siren wailing ]

-You don't matter!

♪♪

♪♪

-In Baker County,

those that come out to a Back the Blue rally

aren't just out here to show their support

for the local police.

It also doubles as an impromptu campaign rally

for President Trump and, for some,

an opportunity to fly the Confederate flag.

♪♪

-Police Lives Matter.

White Redneck Lives Matter.

Trump's the Man. There we are.

It's all good. - What's...

- We... We... - What's... What's your nickname?

-The White Rhino from Macclenny, Florida.

- Yeah. - Proud of it.

-Macclenny used to be a hot spot for Klan back in the day.

-What's wrong with that?

We got a Ku Klux Klan thing in there.

That's why them Blacks raising hell about all that.

-So, but the Klan didn't just go away overnight, right?

- They still around. - They still around?

-You gotta know where to go do.

-What does the Confederate flag mean to you?

-The Confederate flag means so much

of the history part of the world.

They tearing all these statues down. It's not right.

And then, the Blacks wanna say, "Oh, the rebel this.

Reb... It ain't like that.

-So you're saying it's not about racism?

-No. If you want to make it that way, it is.

- I've noticed some of those... - Not being too racial,

but I am a little racial.

- Yeah. - See here on me? Y'all see?

I got some stuff I can show you.

A lightning bolt. I got a little...

-Oh, your... Let me see. Can I...

Can you just put this? - I got more on the side.

- Was there a swastika there? - Swastika right there.

I got drunk on moonshine.

♪♪

-Hey, sir.

- Hey. - Well, we appre...

-Also at this rally, we meet members of a group called

the Klan Brotherhood Society.

That's Klan with a "K."

-What's going on behind us?

-It's the Trump rally and Blue Lives Matter rally

and, of course, our Southern heritage,

keep it alive... - What's...

- allow it. - What's threatening it?

- Black Lives Matter. - In what way?

-The discrimination of it, the, uh, racist of it.

The mural in the courthouse in there that's been in there

as long as I can remember from being out here.

-Do you guys think BLM is racist?

-Yeah. Oh, definitely.

-Your organization is called Klan with a "K."

-Yeah. But it's nothing to do with the KKK.

We've all grew up out here and never had an issue.

-I mean, I met a guy over there

with a rebel flag and a swastika.

-If that's his thing, that's his thing,

but I don't know him.

[ Laughter ] What time we...

What time we plan to leave?

- 1:00. - 1:00.

- There you go. - So proud.

- Hey, amen. - Amen.

Thank you, Jesus.

-Yes, sir.

-Think we can come?

♪♪

-John and his KBS buddies focused most on Southern pride

and the right to wave the Confederate flag,

no matter what it might mean to their Black neighbors.

♪♪

We're in the truck bed of John's car

and we're leading up a convoy

of various Blue Lives Matter Confederate-flag cars.

♪♪

I don't really know where we're going.

We just came from the

Black Lives Matter thing across town

and, when I asked him about this thing,

they said, "If people tell you that we don't have

any issues with racism, don't believe them."

They said that the... The Klan is still very much

an open secret in Macclenny.

And I got to tell you, that's kind of the vibe

I'm getting from a lot of these people as well.

It's very much like a nod and a wink about, "Yeah,

there's no... there's no Klan here," wink, wink.

♪♪

-[ Speaks indistinctly ]

♪♪

-They already thought we was part of the Klan...

- No, no. - gonna bring them out here and hang them.

[ Laughter ] - All we wanna do is

live peaceful and leave our shit alone.

It's up. - Yeah.

-And our police.

Did you see them bothering anybody today?

- They didn't bother us. - No, no, no, no.

But I also didn't see anyone bother the cops,

so like they... Do they need your help?

- No. [ Laughs ] - But we were there

- No. - To Back the Blue.

-Not really.

♪♪

[ Gunshot ]

-Whoo!

-Oh, no.

♪♪

-You can't take a picture of my gun, though.

.45 Judge.

.22 Magnum.

-Everyone today was saying that everything's fine.

There's no systemic racism. There's no racism,

but all of them were white.

Is there something that you guys aren't seeing?

-We're just red-blooded, hardworking Americans,

just like you all with journalism.

If it wasn't for Trump, you wouldn't have none of this.

You wouldn't be here. The bottom line,

- [ Speaking indistinctly ] - like Stone Cold says so,

"Why can't we just all get along?"

-[ Speaking indistinctly ]

♪♪

- "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

♪♪

When people say... When people say,

"Black Lives Matter" to you, what do you guys hear?

You react to that.

-They're all affiliated, I think, in this war

that they're bringing upon the American people,

to get the New World Order,

population control with this so-called coronavirus.

-There's almost a level of

that you guys don't want to acknowledge

that like this thing here can be offensive

to some people, right? - Yeah, yes, it can

and I understand that.

It wouldn't matter... If that was the last rebel flag

in the United States and they took it.

The son of a bitches would still want more.

♪♪

Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day.

Bless us, O Lord.

Pray for President Trump.

More power to him.

- Amen, brother. - May he take care

of this country and get it back on track.

Pray for these Black Lives Matter groups.

Lord, that you forgive them for their evil and wicked ways

and their beliefs.

And one nation under God.

- Amen. - Amen!

Amen! - Back the Blue.

[ Applause ]

- Back the Blue 2. - Back the Blue.

♪♪

♪♪

-Many of the white residents we've met in Baker County

claim there aren't racial tensions here.

But ask the Black residents,

who only make up 14% of the population,

and you may get a very different story.

-[ Singing ]

-There is a lot of... A lot of anger,

Amen, in our country right now.

Some say take this down. Some say take that down. Amen.

We just have to do what's right.

- Right. - Amen.

- Right. - We are all one people.

- Amen! - Right.

We went to Baker County Courthouse yesterday.

There was a Back the Blue rally

and they all said there's no problem

with racism in Baker County.

-I never experienced racism.

I never knew, really, what it was, 'til I moved here.

-There used to be a lot of Klan here in Macclenny?

-I think it still is.

They've masked it a lot.

They're still here.

-Weren't there flyers for...

For a KKK group being handed out here

in this neighborhood a while ago?

-Yes, there was.

It... It... It angered me.

I mean, I'm human because I have feelings.

I see people as human beings. - I promise you.

-How did it go, your rally yesterday?

-It was horrible.

We were peacefully protesting

and it was a young man out there

in people's face, screaming with a bullhorn.

Baker County Sheriff's Office,

almost the whole department, was out there,

and they did nothing.

-There were a lot of law enforcement there,

compared to the courthouse. - Exactly.

At the courthouse, the sheriff walked around...

- It was peaceful. Exactly. - You know, shaking hands,

you know, clapping shoulders. - Because those are his people.

In Baker County, I feel like we're nothing to them.

-Tell me about the mural in the Baker County Courthouse.

-We don't want to burn it up or throw it away.

We just don't want it in the courthouse,

where we're going for justice

and, when you get there, you see the KKK.

The first thing that come to my mind is,

"Am I gonna get a fair trial?"

-The Ku Klux Klan is not heritage.

That is a hate group.

-The simple inclusion of these hooded Klansmen on horseback

is not what's riled John Phillips

and other attorneys with the group Florida Justice.

It's that this mural is hanging

inside the Baker County courthouse.

-Jacksonville civil rights lawyer John Phillips sees

a clear line between imagery, like the KKK mural,

and the systemic injustices his clients face.

-When I go to a courthouse... And it's my neighboring county.

When I go to a courthouse

and I see a mural with the Klan literally on it,

this is a real problem and it's out of the woods now.

It's... it's in our backyard.

-Phillips is now representing Sissi Shepard in a civil suit,

after her son Keegan was killed by his neighbor.

♪♪

So, Sissi, this is where your son was was killed.

I was wondering if you guys could tell me

what happened that night.

-This particular evening, he had came to my house

and said he wanted to have date night with his wife, Eli,

who was five months pregnant.

That evening, I was watching Y'naile, his daughter.

My daughter knocked on the door.

My daughter didn't tell me, at first,

until we got halfway over here, that Keegan had been shot.

♪♪

I could see him laying on the ground.

I sat there and watched.

-So what did the detectives tell you?

When did you guys start getting a... a pi...

A picture of what had happened?

-So, right behind us is Michael Centanni's house.

So Keegan worked at a car wash.

They have the sleeves that go on the windshield wipers

and that or something else had blown into Centanni's yard.

He had left a note on Keegan's car that said, what?

"Watch out for your trash, neighbor."

- A little piece of trash? - Over a piece of trash.

So Keegan pulls up with his wife there in the car.

He bangs on the window.

Keegan's just like, "Go away. Go away.

I'm with my, you know, with my wife."

So both men had firearms.

♪♪

Florida's a "stand your ground" state,

which applies to both.

Keegan had a right to protect his wife,

his property that was being banged on, and himself.

Got out and, ultimately,

was shot and killed, you know, in this vicinity.

♪♪

-He did not deserve [ Crying ] what he got.

♪♪

[ Crying ] And that was murder.

He was point-blank murdered,

They murdered my son and he... They got by with it.

-Phillips views the killing of Keegan Von Roberts

as a "stand your ground" case,

a controversial law that some critics

have described as legalized lynching.

How is "stand your ground" different from self-defense?

-For the entire history of this country, without exception,

there has been a right to justify homicide,

but what they did is,

is kind of supercharge it with this immunity system.

Police are not supposed to arrest.

Prosecutors are not supposed to prosecute.

Judges are supposed to release you.

-But isn't there a due process

to be able to claim "stand your ground"?

-If... If Michael Centanni was never arrested...

And he was never arrested...

How was there ever due process? [ Camera shutter clicks ]

The crime scene photos that police took at Centanni's house,

I mean, you see guns of every magnitude.

There's some level of logbook where he had been logging

his neighbor's comings and goings.

-Michael Centanni told police

he'd been surveilling Von Roberts

because he believed he was a drug dealer

and that, during a confrontation months before the killing,

Von Roberts brandished a gun.

Investigators corroborated Centanni's account,

saying this gave him reason to fear for his life

the night he shot Von Roberts after a dispute about garbage.

There's a level of premeditation there

for somebody to leave their house

and start a confrontation

and then wind up the victor in it.

What they've done with "stand your ground" is say,

"No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Don't even arrest him." At some point,

if you've taken somebody's life,

let a judge or jury take a look at that.

-Another famous "stand your ground" case,

the Trayvon Martin- George Zimmerman case. - Yeah.

-Zimmerman was following Trayvon Martin.

- Correct. - And that's okay?

-Yeah, so, in Zimmerman's case,

like Centanni, in a lot of ways, he's the neighborhood watch guy.

He sees a young Black male, Trayvon Martin.

The way that they spun it is,

"Okay, yeah, I went after him with a gun,

but then, Trayvon started to attack me

and then he became the aggressor,

so I shot and killed him."

Same thing with... With Keegan Roberts.

The provision of immunity for "stand your ground"

is vastly disproportionate,

such that white people tend to get it.

Black people tend to not.

-A 2015 study

on "stand your ground" defense claims in Florida

found that a...

In places like Baker County

and the myriad other counties like it,

in cases like Keegan Von Roberts,

Trayvon Martin, like all these cases,

is the past, the system of impunity

and of white supremacy,

influencing criminal justice of today?

-All of the laws that tend to be

systemically racist or problematic

have a level of fear and racism baked in,

including "stand your ground."

And don't tell me that that's not...

When the people that created those laws benefit from it,

that it's not intentional.

♪♪

♪♪

[ Beep ] - 911.

What's the location of the emergency?

♪♪

-My son Keegan, well, he'll be forever 22.

He was a 10-pound baby.

He's always been a very happy person.

He was a big guy.

He wore a big smile on his face.

He fell in love with Eli.

They were high school sweethearts.

They got married

and they had a two-year-old at the time of his demise.

So he just loved being a father and loved being married.

-[ Crying ] He did an amazing job.

[ Sniffle ] - He did.

-raising my daughter

and my daughter loves him so much.

She's still asking for him... [ Sniffle ]

...waiting for him to come home.

-Roberts' mother and wife are calling

for the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office

to make an arrest.

-What was he like, as a father?

-If he took a nap, she took a nap.

If he walked, she walked, you know.

He just was a big old kid himself, so.

-I'm not gonna fall in the nasty dirt

because I don't want to get my dress all muddy.

- Right. - [ Shouts ]

-How do you explain to her what happened to her father

without making her fearful or angry or bitter?

-Eli's done a very good job, on that part,

because she has told her that

sometimes people won't like you

and they'll do things to you to hurt you

and then, you just end up in heaven.

-That's me when a baby,

my dad, and my mother.

And that's me in my mom's belly.

And we was all in the pictures.

♪♪

-When they came to the scene, they assumed

that it was my son that was the aggressor.

They did not assess. They assumed.

-What do you base that on?

-I base it on the fact

that my son was Black

and Michael Centanni was white.

My son was killed beside his car, not in the street,

and "stand your ground,"

you've already said, in your head,

"I'm going to take this loaded gun over here

and approach two people in a vehicle."

You leave the safety of your home

and start a fight and shoot your way out

and call it "stand your ground."

♪♪

-In a nine-page report

explaining their decision in this case,

the Jacksonville State Attorney's Office stated

that they believed Centanni

"foolishly initiated conflict

with [von] Roberts," but that that

"did not extinguish his rights

to self-defense under Florida criminal law."

They added that Centanni's claim that Von Roberts...

including the fact that Von Roberts' gun

was unholstered when the body was found.

Michael Centanni and his attorney

did not respond to our requests for comment.

♪♪

Sissi continues to fight for justice in Keegan's name

here in Florida, keeping her family,

back in Indiana, up-to-date on her efforts.

-I come from a very prejudiced place.

When I stepped here, I'd never seen prejudice

like I seen here.

- Really? - This place is horrible.

Yes. - Because Indiana is...

- Very. Yes. - was a stronghold of the Klan, right?

So how is this place different, or worse?

-Uh, I guess they're not as open.

Here, it just doesn't matter.

♪♪

They show it. They don't care.

-Sissi, who is mixed-race,

has inherited a KKK legacy of her own.

-My grandfather was one.

-He was a what?

-He was a KKK member.

He's seen many hangings

and we have friends in Indiana who have seen many hangings,

their... their forefathers

or their parents, their grandparents.

-Do you have memories of the Klan, as a child?

-Oh, yes. I've been in

[ Chuckle ] a KKK rally, rode right into it.

I can remember being in the car with my uncle

and they stopped us on the tracks and said,

"You're not going anywhere."

-Do you see a link between the system

that the KKK represented

and some of the laws and some of the issues

that we're dealing with today?

-A lot of the link that I see

was just "Ignorance is bliss."

Uh, I just think it was something that

they got by with.

The hatred just grew.

-They are trying to destroy

2,000 years of Western culture, mainly white culture,

erase it from the books,

and create a new world

that is not gonna have a place for us.

There's not gonna be a place for us,

and that's the problem.

♪♪

-There was a time in this country where

white people could, almost with impunity,

take the lives of African Americans.

And I know it's not the same,

but it feels like almost similar, right, or am I crazy?

-Whether they're talking about "stand your ground"

or police brutality, I don't disagree.

The baked-in racism, the baked-in systemic bias, uh,

and injustice that has created such untipped scales,

how is that not, you know,

very close to the legalization of... of lynching?

Discounting human life, by law?

It's pretty close.

-Love is so important in this world

and, when you start taking that away,

you're filling their minds with hatred and violence,

it's a sad, sad place to live.

♪♪

-For the Ku Klux Klan!

We'll be here today,

tomorrow,

and forever!

-It's a generational curse that has to be broken.

♪♪