By: Alyssa Wilson

An FBI investigation into members of the Ku Klux Klan working as corrections officers revealed the “inner workings of a modern Klan cell and domestic terrorism probe.”  

According to a detailed story by the Associated Press, the story began in August 2013. Thomas Driver, a corrections officer, stood face to face with Warren Williams, a Black man serving time at the Reception and Medical Center in North Florida.  

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During an incident after Williams lost his prison ID, Driver blew cigarette smoke in his face multiple times. When Driver refused to stop blowing smoke in his face, Williams jumped on him and bit him. A group of guards then beat Williams so bad he needed to be hospitalized 

Driver wanted revenge for the incident, and in December 2014, he attended a meeting of the Florida Traditionalist American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, of which he was a member. He attended with another corrections officer named Sarge Moran, who worked for the Florida Department of Corrections for decades. Despite being disciplined for multiple acts of violence by the corrections department, he remained on the job.  

Driver and Moran met with U.S. Army veteran Joseph Moore, the KKK group’s “Grand Night Hawk.” The three discussed Williams and how Driver worried for weeks that he’d contract hepatitis C from being bitten. Moore then asked, “Do you want him six feet under?” and the other two responded, “Yes.”  

The following January, a fourth man, Charles Newcomb joined the plot. The former corrections officer served as the Klan’s Exalted Cyclops and was close to Moran. He considered Williams’ biting of a Klansman as “attempted murder.” From there, the men planned to visit the neighborhood Williams lived in when he was released from the facility.  

What Moran, Driver and Newcomb did not know was that Moore was working as a confidential informant for the FBI. The trained sniper was honorably discharged from the Army after having a mental breakdown in 2002.  

On January 30, 2015, the group met and planned to grab Williams, take him to a secluded area and inject him with insulin. According to the Associated Press, an insulin overdose is extremely painful and causes uncontrollable tremors. It is also difficult for a medical examiner to detect. They brought a fishing pole with them with the goal of making it look like Williams died while fishing.  

Once the FBI learned of the plot, Williams was taken into protective custody, but they staged photos of his death to make it look like he had been shot before placing him in a safe house. Moore delivered the photos to the three other men in the plot before they were arrested by the FBI.  

In 2017, Moran and Newcomb were convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced to 12 years in prison. Driver was sentenced to four years and is set to be released this year. The whereabouts of Moore are unknown.  

According to FBI Director Christopher Way, violent extremism by white supremacists is on the rise and accounts for many of the rising domestic terrorism cases. The concerns about these acts being committed by police officers, corrections officers and others in positions of power continue to rise. “White supremacist groups have historically engaged in strategic efforts to infiltrate and recruit from law enforcement,” an FBI document said.  

If you or someone you know is struggling from trauma triggered by this story, resources are available here.