A former FBI agent has shed light on the disturbing things he witnessed while undercover at a white supremacist training camp.
Scott Payne infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), an American white supremacist group that originated after the U.S. Civil War. it promotes racist ideology, white supremacy, and white nationalism and are known for lynchings and other forms of violence and terror against Black Americans, and Jews.
The group conducts ceremonies, or rituals, in gatherings in order to reinforce their white supremacist ideology, a key part of what they refer to as a ‘brotherhood’.
An undercover agent managed to go infiltrate and report what they saw. He became an FBI agent in 1998 and his investigation into the KKK took an unsettling turn by 2019.
Leading up to this investigation, there had been a rise in white supremacists vocalizing their racist opinions explicitly, such as Dylann Roof who killed nine people who were all Black during a church service in South Carolina in 2015. Two years later the ‘Unite the Right’ rally took place in Charlottesville, becoming one of the most visible demonstrations of racist and extremist ideology in decades. These groups want to inspire more violence. Along with the rise of the Alt-Right on social media, these examples illustrate a disturbing escalation in violent rhetoric, making it clear why law enforcement would intensify efforts to monitor, investigate, and infiltrate these groups.
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Payne’s career took off in 2019 when he contacted a group called The Base to join. The Neo-Nazi group targets Black people, Jewish people, and anyone they feel threatens white supremacy.
Based on his knowledge of biker groups, he crafts a new identity as an old biker and a former skinhead.
Payne had a phone interview and passed the test to join North Georgia. But before being able to join the group, he had to pass another test, this time an in-person vetting process.
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Upon arrival at the location, Payne was instructed to put his phone in airplane mode before being checked further. After passing, he’s invited to a camping trip for which he’s instructed to bring odd items, such as firearms and a camouflage uniform. This is no ordinary camp trip, it’s a training ground for hatred that would last for 3-4 days and with individuals travelling from other parts of the U.S.
Payne says the hate group ‘stole a goat’ as a sacrifice in a ‘Pagan ritual’. They decapitated the animal, before drinking its blood and roasting it while planning on killing African Americans, Jews, and others. The group burned the American flag, and Bibles.
Payne has written about his experienced in his book and podcast, White Hot Hate: Agent Pale Horse, and the book Code Name - Pale Horse. He also recounted his experiences in for the YouTube channel Fern.