By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
Louisiana’s governor in the mid-1960s doled out privately raised money to Ku Klux Klan members in hopes of avoiding racial violence, FBI records show.
The Advocate reports that Klan members were promised money after the 1964 gubernatorial election in exchange for peace.
FBI agents believed that Gov. John J. McKeithen, who received campaign donation from the Klan, was behind the payments.
It’s unclear whether McKeithen’s strategy worked. Federal agencies note that there were at least a half-dozen Klan-related homicides, scores of beatings and dozens of fire bombings in central Louisiana between 1964 and 1969.
McKeithen fell out of favor of the Klan after he began working on pro-civil rights efforts.
