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zations are such as would deny to citizens of the United States their rights under the Constitution. The actual wording of the Attorney General's determination was, in characterizing these groups, that they were: “Organizations which have adopted a policy of advocating or approving the commission of acts of force or violence to deny others their rights under the Constitution of the United States.” You will note that these designations were made in the years of 1947, 1948, 1949, and 1950, and are not recent. The Klan organizations operating in Louisiana today were not in existence ut that lime; they are different and separate groups. Of the four such groups which operate in this State nt this time, three of them are totally autonomous in the State of Louisiana, having no ties of any kind outside of the State. The fourth group does have connections outside the State, and 1 will] go into this in detail later. There ia no such thing, gentlemen, as “The Klan.” There are about 14 different groups who use the name “Klan,” operating across the Southern United States, and up into the Central United States at thia time, Four such groups operute in Louisiana. According to our estimate there are some 18,000 to 19,000 members of all of the Kians in the State of Louisiana at this time. Our estimate of the total atrength of Klan members in Louisiana, must of necessity be an estimate, because the Klan leaders with whom we have talked refused to disclose the numbers of their members in any of the different yroups. We have made our estimate on the basis of discussions with informants who are actively partic- ipating in Klan activities, and to a very great extent fram police estimates from many different police sources throughout the State of Louisiana. The Klan started in Louisiana in its most reeent form sround the year 1959. Immediately prior to this there was no open Klan activity in the State at all, At a later point in the Hear- ing, I] will discuss this with the Committee, and show the Committee why this was. The four’ groups in Louisiana may be described us follows: The largest and most substantial is known as, The Original Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.” This group is led by Murray Martin, of Winns- boro, Louisiana, and probably has in the neighborhood of 14,000 or more members in the State. This comprises the great bulk of the Klan members within the jurisdiction of thia Committee. The Original Knights of the Ku Kiux Kian is descended from an organization which was known as, “The Old Original K K K,” which first chartered a group in Louisiana in 1959 in the Monroe area. The Imperial Wizard of the group at that time was a man named Davis from Dailas, 14 ' 4 ‘ i i al ‘ ‘ ‘ é ‘ iia cere re es vet wee . , Texss; and the Grand Dragon in Loulaiana was & man named Young from Shreveport. There have been certain modifications of the name and form of the organization since, until it now appeara in the current configuration which I have described to you. The second largest Klan Organization in the State of Louisiana at this time is called, “The United Klans of America.” The Imperial Wizard of this group ig Robert Shelton, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama ; and the Grand Dragon in Louisiana is a Mr. J, M. Edwards, of Jonesboro, Louisiana. This Kian group is the only one that haa any definite ties, organizationaily, with any other organization outside the State of Louisiana. The third largest Kian group in Louisiana is an organization called, “The Louisiana Ku Kiux Klan.” We have, in our Staff atudiea sometimes called thia group the “Feliciana Group.” oF the “Five Parish Group,” because it operates mainly in five Parishes, all border- ing on the Mississippi line to the north and east of Baton Rouge, namely: East and West Feliciana Parishes, St. Helena Parish, St. Tammany Parish, and Washington Parish. It has occasional Klaverns in two or three other Parishes, but it does not operate to any signifi- cant degree other than in the five which [ have mentioned to you. The leader of this group is, to the best of our information, Charles Christ- maa of Amite, Louisiana. An interview waa achedujed with Mr. Christmas, but he cancelled it and refused to conault with ua. He did atate that his answers to our questions would be substantially the game as those given by Mr. Murray Martin. The Louisiana Ku Klux Kian ia actually an off-shoot of the Original Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, We don’t know exactly why they left the leadership of the Original Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, but they have done so, and they are now operating 2 separate function entirely. The fourth largest Klan Organization is known a8 “The Original Ku Klux Kian of America, Inc." The Imperial Wizard, or national head of this group is Houston P. Morris, of Monroe, Louisianb- Mr. Morris was formerly a Klan organizer from Zachary, Louisiana, 1 one of the other organizations, and he left the other group to form hia own Kian. He became Imperial Wizard, from which office he has can- tinued to direct his organization. His group is amall, with a small bank-account of jess than three figures at the time we made a check on it. His membership is confined, a3 far as we have been able to ascertain, generally to the Ouachita Parish-Monroe, Louisiana, area. He has extended his operations to some degree into Arkansas, but we are informed that this has not been particularly successful. We talked privately to Mr. Morris but did not formally interview him because 16 aa