Thomas Robb | |
|---|---|
| National Director of theKnights of the Ku Klux Klan | |
| Assumed office 1989 | |
| Preceded by | Stanley McCollum (as Imperial Wizard)[1] |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1946-10-13)October 13, 1946 (age 79) Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Children | 1 |
| Known for | Leader of theKnights of the Ku Klux Klan |
Thomas Arthur Robb (born October 13, 1946) is an Americanwhite supremacist andChristian Identity pastor.[2][3] He is the currentGrand wizard of theKnights of the Ku Klux Klan, also known as the Knights Party,[4] taking control of the organization since 1989.[3]
Thomas Arthur Robb[5] was born inDetroit, Michigan, and grew up inTucson, Arizona. He attended college inColorado.[3]
In 1989, Robb took over theKnights of the Ku Klux Klan, originally led byDavid Duke. In a bid to gain mainstream acceptance, he took the title of "National Director" instead of the title of "Imperial Wizard", and he chose to rename the organization "The Knights Party". He also decided to accept members via mail-in forms, rather than through initiation rites that had been common Klan practice in the past.[3] Robb defends the Klan as a harmless organization, claiming that it is "gentle, upbeat, and friendly";[6] when featured in thePBS documentaryBanished, Robb compared a Klan hood to a businessman's tie, claiming that "it's just tradition".[7]
Robb has maintained his ties with otherfar-right groups; he has spoken at theAryan Nations's annual "World Congress" of hate group leaders, he has appeared onJamie Kelso's white supremacist Voice of Reason Radio Network, and he has regularly contributed to the white supremacistInternet forum websiteStormfront.[3] Robb's "Thomas Robb Ministries" website declares that "theAnglo Saxon,Germanic,Scandinavian, and kindred people are the divinelychosen people of the Bible."[3]
In 1999 Robb was interviewed separately by British journalistsLouis Theroux andJon Ronson, and featured in documentaries produced by both.[8] In 2009, Robb's daughter Rachel Pendergraft and his granddaughters, Charity and Shelby Pendergraft, formed awhite nationalist band which they called Heritage Connection.[9] Robb's Party publishesThe Crusader, a quarterly publication. In November 2016, just days before thepresidential election, Robb wrote a front-page article under the title "Make America Great Again" inThe Crusader, devoted to a lengthy endorsement ofDonald Trump and Trump's message. TheTrump campaign responded by denouncing theCrusader article.[10]
In May 2022, BritishYouTuberNiko Omilana published a video titled "I Pranked America's Most Racist Man" in which he described his experiences inZinc andHarrison while he disguised himself as a journalist for theBBC. The video includes an interview with Robb, and during the interview, Robb unwittingly shouts out fake Instagram users whose names phoneticize phrases such as "BLM" (Black Lives Matter).[11]
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