All language subtitles for Grand.Knighthawk.Infiltrating.The.KKK.2023.720p.WEBRip.x264.AAC-[YTS.MX]

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KLANSMAN:
Oh, yeah.

All right.

[somber orchestral music]

♪♪ ♪♪

PERSON:
For 2,000 years, God Almighty

has seen fit to have
a separation of the races.

Either you are for the white,
or you are for the Black.

PERSON: Ladies and gentlemen,

there is a white day coming
in the United States.

♪♪ ♪♪

[spirited rhythmic beat]

JOE: Living with all
of these ghosts around me,

the things that I have done
and the knowledge I have,

it is life altering.

- The white people
of this nation

are sick and tired.
[cheers and applause]

TERRILL: This was the Klan,
seeking to kill someone

because of their skin color.

PERSON: It is not malice
when we protect ourselves.

JASON: And it wasn't 1965.
It was 2015.

SINGER:
♪♪ The bottom of the river ♪♪

LATONYA: The KKK wanted
to catch my son,

cut him up in pieces
on the creek,

and leave him there.

JASON:
This is a modern-day lynching

of a Black man
in the Deep South.

- The facts of this case
are despicable.

JOE:
I asked the question,

"Do you want him
6 feet under?"

GEORGE: He was a rising star
of the Klan.

He actually became
the Grand Nighthawk.

- He came home
with a Ku Klux Klan outfit.

And I was like,
"Oh my God. What is this?"

SINGER:
♪♪ Meet me at the bottom ♪♪

GEORGE:
Tapes don't lie.

You fear
for your safety now?

JOE:
Yes.

JOE: If something were
to happen to me,

I need the world
to know the truth.

SINGER:
♪♪ Bottom of the river ♪♪

[fire crackling]

[insects chirring, birdsong]

[tense music]

TAMEKA: There are
many different Floridas.

Not many people
appreciate that.

♪♪ ♪♪

I would tell people
that I was from Florida,

and they immediately
thought about beaches

and palm trees, about Disney.

But that's not the Florida
that I grew up in.

- North Florida is
significantly more rural.

It's more farmland.
It's old plantation.

JASON: It's a region
that has been left behind

by the modern economy.

There is a lot
of agriculture jobs here,

but the other big job in rural
communities is prisons.

In Florida, the prison system
is the largest state employer,

employing thousands of people.

There are about
150 facilities,

about 80,000 inmates,

and even though Florida has
about a 17% Black population,

half of inmates are Black.

I think a place like this
that has such a long history

of racial strife should
not be surprising to anyone

that the largest employer
is also going to have

members of the Klan in it.

The members of the Klan
when they join,

join something
called the Invisible Empire.

[eerie music]

They exist among us
in society,

not in their robes and hoods,

but in everyday street clothes

working everyday,
regular jobs.

♪♪ ♪♪

Obviously, this is not
an everyday kind of story.

In 2015,
there was a press release

by the state of Florida.

It said that they'd arrested
three prison guards,

and it turned out
that the guards were members

of the Ku Klux Klan

plotting the murder
of a Black man, an inmate,

once he got out of prison.

♪♪ ♪♪

I just started
looking into it,

and I kind of became
obsessed with it.

And I did a story
for the AP wire,

which went national,

but there were just
a lot of questions,

a lot more questions
than answers.

It was only after
I wrote the second article

in my series
that I received an email,

and my heart stopped.

♪♪ ♪♪

There was someone
who was in the Ku Klux Klan,

and he came forward to me.

The subject was,
"This is Joseph Moore."

"Hello, I do not go
by Joseph Moore anymore,

"but that was me.

"There is and was
much more going on

"in the white supremacist
circles

than I can discuss
at this time..."

JOE: "But I am not restricted
at this point that I know of.

"My family and I are
under constant threat

"from white supremacists.

"I want to give you
information I have

"in case something happens
to me

"and I can no longer speak.

Joe."

[tape rewinding]

[dramatic music]

When you first
put that robe on,

that persona that you put on
can overcome you.

[indistinct speech]

♪♪ ♪♪

I was Grand Nighthawk

of the realm
of Florida and Georgia.

♪♪ ♪♪

JASON: The Grand Nighthawk is
basically the Klan's

top security officer.

JOE: Cross burnings
are sacrosanct to the KKK

and one of the most
closely guarded secrets.

I, as the Grand Nighthawk,

would be the person
that lights the fire.

JASON: So there's a big
nighttime cross lighting

at a farm
in rural North Florida.

- It was very remote,
very wooded, very rural,

and there would be no traffic.

JASON: All of the Klan members
in the region would show up

in a field
and light a cross on fire.

JOE: The night
of the cross burning,

there were approximately
40 people there.

JASON: They were members
of a violent group of the Klan

called the Traditionalist
American Knights

of the Ku Klux Klan.

They were comprised of members
who had violent felonies,

violent crimes in their past.

[indistinct shouting]

JASON: The Klan tries
to present a public face

of being kind of
a social club.

But behind the scenes,
oftentimes,

they're plotting violence.

♪♪ ♪♪

- The Grand Nighthawk has been
sort of a hit man for the KKK.

I embraced the fact
that the KKK might

call upon me for violence.

GEORGE: The crosses are
burning, the moon is full,

and that night changed
everything.

- Yes.

[ominous music]

After the ceremony
and the cross lighting,

I stepped away from the crowd.

And as I'm looking up
at the moon,

I hear something coming my way.

♪♪ ♪♪

Charles Newcomb,
the Exalted Cyclops,

which is essentially
the local leader,

walked up to me and said,

"Hey, Brother Joe,
we got a situation

we wanted to, uh,
talk to you about."

♪♪ ♪♪

"We got Brother Driver
and Brother Moran over here.

They want to talk
to you about something."

David Moran was a Klansman
working his way towards

a position directly under
Charles Newcomb,

the Exalted Cyclops.

Thomas Driver
was a newer Klan member,

not even first
or second level yet.

- The other thing
these three had in common

was they had all worked for

the Florida Department
of Corrections

as prison guards.

- Thomas driver explained
that he got into a fight

with this inmate,
and they handed me

a paper with
an inmate's picture on it

and the inmate's
biographical information.

The inmate was Warren Williams.

♪♪ ♪♪

I asked,
"What do you want to do?"

Driver and Moran
looked at one another.

I asked the question,

"Do you want somebody
to talk to him?"

They looked at each other,
said no.

I said, "Do you want someone
to beat him up?"

They looked at each other
and said no.

Then I asked the question,

"Do you want him
6 feet under?"

And they said yes.

♪♪ ♪♪

I said "OK, you need
to put that paper away,

"and then we need
to meet another time

"to talk about this outside
of this environment.

Brothers, uh, y'all enjoy
the rest of the evening."

[eerie music]

GEORGE: So three men
have talked to you

about a potential murder,
but they didn't know

something very important.

- They don't know that I was

undercover for the FBI.

[suspenseful music]

♪♪ ♪♪

- So this is the Reception
and Medical Center

in North Florida, Lake Butler.

And it houses
thousands of prisoners,

as well as being the hospital
for the prison system

in this region.

Driver and Moran worked here
during the murder plot.

Newcomb was a former employee,

and all three were members
of the Klan.

ANTWAN: Lake Butler Reception
and Medical Center

has to be the worst prison--

it is the worst prison
in Florida.

Lake Butler is known to be
so bad that you can leave,

go to another prison,
and you can tell the officer,

"Man, I'm glad
I ain't at Lake Butler."

Well, you know
what they tell you?

Rednecks don't play down there.
Kill your ass, huh?

[blues music]

When I was there,
I knew Sergeant David Moran.

♪♪ ♪♪

We called him Chief.

Back then, he had
a little size on him,

barrel-chest dude, and inmates
feared and respected him.

They knew--they knew Chief--

they were like, "You know,
man, Chief'll kill you."

JASON: In the eight years
that I've covered this region,

there have been
a number of stories

that had involved Klansmen

being unmasked
law enforcement.

ANTWAN: You not gonna surprise
no Black person

by telling them the Klan
is working in prison,

not Southern Black people.

- And with the resurgence
of white supremacist groups...

[people chanting and screaming
indistinctly]

JASON: You have seen
an emboldened Klan.

CHRIS: We had been receiving
a series of directives

going back to 2006
concerning the threat

from domestic terrorism
extremism groups.

GREG: It's always best,
in any criminal investigation,

to have somebody
on the inside

because you're not only
having eyes and ears

where yours can't be,
but in many cases,

you're getting
real-time feedback.

- Hence, the approach
to Joe Moore.

[indistinct chatter]

- Good to see you.
- Nice to meet you.

- Nice to meet you.
Have a seat.

So you don't go by the name
Joe Moore anymore?

- No, we've gotten
identity changes.

- Can I call you Joe?
- Yeah, that's fine.

That's what most people
call me anyway.

- Let's start out at--
at the beginning.

[bright music]

♪♪ ♪♪

JOE: I was born in 1971
in Jacksonville, Florida.

♪♪ ♪♪

I guess I always wanted
to be in law enforcement.

[chuckles]

I was close to my sister,
and I was her protector.

In high school, I ran track,
played football.

After college, I enlisted
in the Army as a private.

- You really did well
at the beginning.

- I was a distinguished
honor graduate

in my basic training class,

making rank pretty quick,

and was selected
to become a sniper.

Eventually became
the sniper section leader.

I began learning
breathing techniques,

maintaining your composure,

being able to get control
of what would

otherwise cause people
to panic.

For me,
I was serving my country.

I was fulfilling who I was.

[soft dramatic music]

- But after that,
you ran into some challenges.

- Yes.

I received
an honorable discharge,

and I was already
receiving treatment

when I left the Army,
for depression,

and within a year
of being discharged,

I was diagnosed
with bipolar disorder.

GEORGE: How do you manage it?
JOE: You see multiple doctors.

And of course, you get
onto a medication protocol.

And when I'm feeling manic,

I imagine
I'm wearing a heavy suit.

And then when I'm depressed,

I imagine zipping out
of that heavy suit,

as well as
constantly practicing

my breathing techniques
that I've learned as a sniper.

♪♪ ♪♪

LATONYA: When you have kids,

you want the best for 'em
in all situations.

[laughs]

But he just didn't go
the route

that I would have had him go.

I'm Latonya Crowley.
I'm Warren William's mother.

♪♪ ♪♪

JASON: Warren Williams
is a young man who grew up

in the Central North Florida
town of Palatka,

which is
on the St. John's River.

He lived with his mother
and three younger sisters,

protective older brother.

LATONYA:
He had a great spirit,

and he liked outdoors,

always, you know,
hands on with dirt,

flowers, stuff like that.

He get it from his granddaddy.

JASON: He spends time
quietly fishing

in St. John's River.

- He's not a people person.

He never have been,
never have.

- Warren suffered from
some pretty severe

mental illness diagnoses
throughout his life.

LATONYA: Warren has
some mental issues,

and they kind of arose
when he was in high school.

And that's when I start
noticing the little changes.

He didn't see it,
but I seen it,

you know, with bipolar.

They put him on medication.

He'll take it for a while,
and then he'll stop

because he feel like
he's not himself.

- Sometimes, he would have
one of these episodes,

and his mother
or other people he was with

would, you know,
have to call the police

because they couldn't
deal with him.

LATONYA: Because he's not
taking his medicine,

he had taken a baseball bat
to my car.

Because I know
he wasn't in his right mind,

I had to call the police.

[soft dramatic music]

You know, he needed help.
He just needed help.

[faint police sirens blaring]

♪♪ ♪♪

The police came to the house.

And Warren was, you know,
sitting on the porch.

You know, and I told them,

"Don't try to attack him."

JASON: The police came when he
was having a mental breakdown,

and he became violent.

Warren hit one
of the police officers,

which would send him in
to that prison.

[gun shots]

JOE: There are bad things
that happen daily,

and you certainly can't
build fences around life.

My identity and how
I was formed as a person

were the result
of some criminal things

that were done to me
as a child.

When I was eight years old,
I was victimized by two men

over a period of
approximately three months.

JASON: First time I met Joe,

he brought up
his childhood abuse.

It's clearly something
that is not only traumatizing,

but that he's turned into
a major life-motivating force.

JOE: Instead of deciding
to become a victim

of those tragedies,

I decided to be the person
that would speak out

against things
that were wrong.

♪♪ ♪♪

I was giving classes
at a local shooting range

to active duty
military personnel,

police personnel.

[indistinct chatter]

While I was conducting
a class, I guess,

a member of the Joint Terrorism
Task Force noticed me,

and I received
a phone call after that.

- He--he fit the bill.

And by that, I mean he had
certain qualifications.

- Like what?

CHRIS: Well, he had
a military background.

Physically,
he sort of fit the bill.

I mean, he's a white male.
He was from--from that area.

He could walk the walk.

JOE: When I was growing up,
I lived in a very swampy,

rural part of town,
and where I lived at,

those people
flew Confederate flags,

those people used the N-word.

- The FBI asked you
to go undercover.

What was your mission?

JOE: My mission was
go inside the KKK

to identify people
that are involved

and to forewarn the FBI
of any illegal activities.

[gun shots]

- Was there a threat in
northern Florida at the time?

- Yes, clearly.

[eerie music]

GEORGE: KKK?

CHRIS: The KKK has--
has the history,

the image, so to speak.
- We do not...

CHRIS: They're capable
and dangerous.

GREG: Florida has been
a bastion of the Klan.

I usually call the KKK

the granddaddy of white
supremacy movements

because you can see the roots
if you study the history.

TAMEKA: The Klan was founded
after the end

of the United States Civil War

by whites who were determined
to maintain their supremacy.

In 1921, it was estimated

that there were approximately
100,000 Klan members

across the United States.

A full one-third of them
were believed

to have been
in the state of Florida.

African Americans
living in the state of Florida

have the highest likelihood
of being lynched

of any people
in the United States.

During
the Civil Rights Movement,

you're going to see
a lot of these Klan members

be active in confrontations
of civil rights demonstrators.

You see that very vividly

in Saint Augustine, Florida,
in 1964.

JASON: Local leaders,
officials, sheriffs

were openly members
of the Ku Klux Klan

who ran these towns
100 or less years ago.

So it's still a very active
part of the culture

and history of this region.

GEORGE:
And to do your job well,

you have to make them believe
you're one of them.

How do you even start though?

- So this wasn't my first time
undercover for the FBI.

Back in 2007,
I spent about four years

undercover for the FBI

in a different
Klan organization.

- Joe walks into the FBI office
in Gainesville, Florida

to report what he thought
was a crooked cop.

The FBI agent saw
Joe's military background,

saw something in him
and thought,

"Here's someone we could
recruit to help us out."

- Initially, I wasn't surprised
that they contacted me,

but I was--
I was honored.

I realized that I had
a second chance

to serve my country again.

I had the opportunity
to help someone else,

just as I wished somebody
was there to help me

when tragedy happened to me
as a child.

GEORGE: But something
went wrong there.

They believed
your cover had been blown?

- The problem
was my family issues.

- Joe was under
a lot of pressure

and stress from his wife.

JASON: There was some secret.

Sooner or later,
he came clean,

and when the FBI discovered
that he told his wife,

they severed the relationship
immediately.

- So he broke the rules?

CHRIS: He broke a rule,
he broke a rule,

and a decision
was made to sever ties.

GEORGE: So if a guy
breaks the rules once,

why bring him back?

CHRIS: Because it was,
in a sense,

almost understandable.

JASON:
This time, they were able

to strike up a new deal

where his wife would know
from the beginning.

CHRIS: You also consider
the need to bring somebody in

who already has
that experience.

The decision to reopen him,
so to speak,

was really an easy decision.

[people shouting
and chanting indistinctly]

JASON: In 2013, there were
more than 100 Klan groups

operating
in the United States.

CHRIS: Really,
the first year or so was,

be on the lookout,
gather intelligence,

evaluate the threat.

- I was learning how to be
a part of that organization

and getting close to them.

This is the application

to the Traditionalist American
Knights of the KKK.

And it simply asks,

"Do you support
white supremacism?"

They want people
that have skills.

They want people
from the military.

The KKK has a formal structure

similar to a military unit.

The KKK has
what is essentially

a commander-in-chief
in the Imperial Wizard.

The governors of the regions
would be the Grand Dragons,

and the Grand Nighthawk
would be that state

or that region's leader
of the National Guard.

They use acronyms
in order to ensure

that impostors
were not infiltrating

the meeting or the Klan.

They would use terms like
AYAK, are you a Klansman?

And the proper response,
if you are a Klansman,

is AKIA, A-K-I-A,
a Klansman, I am.

If you don't respond
with AKIA,

they know
you're not a Klansman.

- They also have a blood oath.

- Yes, they do.
When you sign the blood oath,

they tell you
that if you violate

or disclose secrets of the KKK,
you'll pay with your blood.

[tense music]

♪♪ ♪♪

GEORGE: What does it mean
to be operational for the FBI?

JOE: I was constantly
in contact with the Klan,

nearly on an hourly basis,

transferring information,
attending meetings.

I perhaps, would be
having dinner or lunch

with my family,
or at church or something,

and we'd get a phone call,

and I knew
it was a Klan member.

- The KKK,
who did they think you were?

- Someone far more qualified
than myself.

GEORGE: A warrior?
JOE: Yes.

[exhales deeply]

My Zodiac sign is Gemini.

Being the twins,

there were two aspects
of myself,

one undercover,
and one who I really was.

- They were really interested
in his military background

and training as a sniper.

He took on a character
that inflated his credentials

even further
than what they already were.

CHRIS:
He took military experience

and made it sound
almost sexy to them.

So he talked about
being a sniper,

alluding to killing people
in Delta Force,

which they clearly
were attracted to.

- I was able
to rise through the ranks

to the point that they made me
a Nighthawk and, eventually,

the Grand Nighthawk.

- It's clear from his ascent
that he impressed them.

They trusted him.

He displayed
admirable patience

throughout that process,

which easier said than done,

particularly in a situation
like that

that's potentially
very dangerous.

[Klansmen chanting]

- So in his first year,
Joe was leaking intelligence

to the FBI here and there,

but there were no major plans
he's disrupting.

But that would all change.

It was the height of

North Florida
deep South summer,

which anybody knows
is one of the most humid,

sticky, hot places.

Many of the rooms
inside the RMC

are not air conditioned.

It makes conditions
even more tense

between the inmates
and the guards.

Thomas Driver
worked in the dorm area

where Warren Williams
was an inmate.

They crossed paths
at numerous times.

But one day, Thomas Driver
had brought Warren

into a room inside the prison
to reprimand Warren

for losing his ID badge.

Driver just smoking
a cigarette,

started blowing smoke
at Warren's face.

LATONYA: And he said
he asked him to stop,

and he wouldn't.

You know, he kept saying,
you know,

"Get out my face
with the cigarette smoke."

You know, "Get out of my face.
Get out my face."

ANTWAN: They would do things,
outrageous things,

that push you in a corner,

just things
that just not necessary.

JASON:
Warren asked him to stop.

Driver refused to stop,

and it was at that point
that Warren jumped on him,

and the fight started.

LATONYA: Warren and Driver
was fighting,

wrestling, you know,
on the floor or whatever,

and the other COs came in.
They beating him.

♪♪ ♪♪

They beaten him so bad,
they took him to the hospital.

JASON: Williams had gotten
the better of Driver

in the fight,
and during the fight,

had also bit Driver
and broken the skin,

and Driver had required
a series of tests

to make sure
that he didn't have some

serious communicable diseases,
hep C or HIV,

and because of the worry
over whether or not

he'd picked up
one of these diseases,

he said it
had caused his family

immeasurable stress
and that he just

wanted this guy assassinated.

♪♪ ♪♪

So Warren was released
from prison

right around Christmas time
and returned back

to his mother's small home
in Palatka.

[soft dramatic music]

He began working
a landscaping job,

trying to stay out of trouble.

He was on probation,

so he's going to
regular probation meetings,

fishing when he can,

just trying to get his life
back to a peaceful state,

but at the same time,
the Ku Klux Klan

is plotting to snatch him up
and murder him.

JOE: I ask the question,

"Do you want him
6 feet under?"

And they said yes.

I said, "OK, brothers,

y'all enjoy the rest
of the evening."

Get in my vehicle,

just running the night
over in my head

over and over and over.

When I got
safely down the road,

I immediately called the FBI
to tell them

that these guys
were prepared to murder.

CHRIS: So December 6...

everything about that
meeting...

was chilling.

It's not illegal to engage
in hateful speech.

What is illegal is to go
from hateful speech

into the planning
of a criminal act,

a violent act.

- And once he hears some talk
about murder,

that's when you need him
to wear a wire?

- Yes.

They've had this conversation
in December.

Now he has to go back,
wearing a wire this time,

and recreate important
parts of that conversation.

PAUL: It's invaluable
to have those recordings

to validate and corroborate
exactly what the informant

is telling us so that we know
precisely the words used.

PAUL: There are many hours
and many meetings.

Countless hours of him
spending time talking with them

so we could try
to keep a good pulse

of what were they thinking.

CHRIS: If you've ever
had a cotton ball

and you try to pull it apart,
if you pull too hard,

it won't come apart.

If you pull easily,
it comes apart.

That's what Joe Moore was able
to do with this organization.

CHRIS:
He never pushed too hard.

He would inquire, listen,
go along with things.

- It was obvious that
they did harbor

racial animosity
toward the victim.

- And the other thing
that was apparent to me

was there was absolute intent
to see this carried out.

PAUL: He's obviously
interacting with

and around people
that have expressed

a clear intent
to commit murder.

If it came out
that Joe was cooperating

and working with the FBI,
we feared his--

his life could very well
be in danger.

- Joe was in danger.
He also had a wife and kids.

- He did.

With sources,
it's a constant challenge

and a struggle, particularly
if they have family,

if they're trying
to lead a normal life.

To have that going on
on the side is--it's tough.

- Make sure they're
all the way over here, love.

[indistinct chatter]

GEORGE: When you're in it,
how do you go

from a cross burning
at night to having breakfast

with your kids
the next morning?

JOE: It's difficult.

With whatever operation

you're conducting
with the FBI,

you still have family life
to deal with.

ZOE: Lord, thank you
for watching over us.

I thank you
for our many blessings.

You know, I always say
everything is for a reason.

And we weren't together
six months when we got engaged.

About six months.

- And we've been together
15 years.

- Yeah, yeah.

[upbeat rock music]

♪♪ ♪♪

JOE: I have four children
in total,

one from a previous marriage.

ZOE: Joe just told me
that there was a man

that they was wanting to kill

and that this was gonna be
some dangerous waters.

He didn't even know what he
was going to be stepping into,

so I was always worried.

- Good job, bud.
Yeah.

I would wonder about
what would happen to my family

if I was discovered
all the time,

every day, every second

of being operational.

- The burden
that it put on me--

and it wasn't just me.
It's our children.

We were worried.

Is he gonna be safe?

Are we gonna be safe?

[soft dramatic music]

JOE: After the holidays,

I got a call
from Charles Newcomb

that he wanted to go
on a reconnaissance.

JOE: It is Charles Newcomb
who, in fact,

did take charge
of the overall operation

and was essentially
the puppet master

of all the pieces
that were moving.

I was told
by Charles Newcomb

that we were going to surveil
his location

in order to further identify
the plan to murder him.

And I asked him
if Brother David Moran

would be attending.
He said yes.

And I said,
"What about Brother Driver?"

JOE: He said, "Brother Driver
will be working that day."

In the back of my head,
I'm thinking,

"You're making sure
he is working on the day

we're just
doing reconnaissance."

So there's a little red flag
that popped up for me there.

The morning I left my home,

I had to secretly meet
with the FBI.

JASON:
They had outfitted Joe's truck

with numerous microphones.

And Joe, of course, had
a recording device as well.

GEORGE: What would
have happened to Joe

had they discovered the wire?

- On the surface,
you would think they would

probably react emotionally,
violently.

- Would they have killed him?
- I think so.

I showed up
at Charles Newcomb's home.

And I'm thinking, "OK,
I have to hope for the best,

but I have to expect
the worst."

JASON: The general plan
was to case the area

and get intelligence
for a future drive.

What he'd find out is
that Newcomb had other plans.

JASON: Injecting someone
who's not diabetic

with too much insulin
poisons them.

It kills them.

- They were gonna take him out
on the spot using those drugs.

- They also had thought ahead

how to get rid
of all the evidence.

JOE: Yes.

- So the fishing pole
that day that they introduced

was really to set the scene
to make it look like

it was a normal day,
the victim was out fishing,

and then he had had
a medical condition collapse,

and he was face down
in the water.

- So he puts the fishing gear
in the back of my SUV,

where some of
the FBI equipment is.

And I'm thinking...
- Don't open that.

JOE: David Moran showed up,

and there was
an exchange of firearms.

I was not able
to inform the FBI

of the intent of these guys
to kill Mr. Williams.

- It's easy to watch TV
and believe the FBI is--

is everywhere
and that they're--

that they're in vans
down the street.

The reality is
the idea that we can

have an immediate response--
it's just not feasible.

Joe Moore was out there
operating on his skills,

on his instincts,
on his ability to react.

- They're talking through
how they might even

alternatively dispose
of the body.

JOE: The closer we got
to Palatka,

it's like these guys just--

Moran got more excited.
Newcomb got more serious.

JOE: When we pulled
into Warren's neighborhood,

there were people
walking on the sidewalks,

sitting outside
their front doors.

- Almost immediately,
as we turn on to the road

where Warren Williams lived,
there was an obvious presence

of law enforcement.

CHRIS: Enough
law enforcement presence

was arranged
in that area, visible,

to dissuade them from doing

anything rash and sudden.

JOE: They told me
law enforcement would

be in the area, but I had no
idea what the plan was.

- Now, there's much that
goes on in the background

that we don't necessarily
tell the informant.

JOE: An unmarked vehicle
showed up immediately

and pulled right in behind us.

I saw the expression
on Newcomb's face.

He was ready
to jump into battle,

and I'd be right
in the middle of it.

- You're thinking he could
pull the gun out at any moment?

- Absolutely.

CHRIS: While we're in control
of parts of it there,

we can't control Newcomb
and Moran's reaction.

And it does pose danger
to Joe Moore.

- I kept driving.
I kept my mouth shut.

I turned left,

and that vehicle
stayed right behind us.

Moran kept turning around,
watching them.

JOE: We went around
the block twice,

and that patrol vehicle stayed
behind us the whole time.

Newcomb let out
a breath of exasperation,

as if he was getting
even more pissed.

JOE: It was like I almost
had to have three eyes,

one on Newcomb,
one on the road,

and one on Moran.

I was thinking to myself,
get myself under control,

breathe, focus, observe.

- I put my hand on my sidearm.

I turned right
onto the highway

and drove out,

and that vehicle pulled over
and did a U-turn.

I thought to myself,
"Thank God."

However, Newcomb
was very suspicious.

- What they were planning to do
became more and more

shocking and disturbing.

It was clear
they wanted him killed.

PAUL: And so what we
needed to do was come up

with an alternative
so that it prevented them

from taking
independent action,

and we can ensure the victim
was safe at all times.

LATONYA: Warren did, I think,
almost a year in prison.

And you know,
when he came home,

he told me, he said,

"Mama, ain't nobody
gonna ever hear my story."

I was like, "OK.

Well, sit down
and tell me your story."

[soft dramatic music]

♪♪ ♪♪

WARREN: I believe it was about
three months into my sentence

that I got into
the incident with him.

Some type of feeling
overcame me,

and I took it out on him.

After what I did to him,

he told me
to get on the floor,

and another officer demanded
that he whoop my ass.

Broke my finger,
hit me in the mouth,

hit me in the eye,

and I think he Maced me, too,
in the same eye.

And I was feeling like,
you know,

he might as well
just go ahead and kill me.

♪♪ ♪♪

LATONYA: Warren had went
to probation one day,

and, you know,
he was doing fine.

So he went, and later,

driving with a friend of mine,

and we was at a red light.

♪♪ ♪♪

And this--this van,

you know, waving me down.

The man presented himself.
You know, "We FBI,

And I can't tell you
anything else."

I said, "Well, you don't
have to tell me anything else

because I already know."

I said, "Somebody done
put a hit out on Warren."

PAUL: She spontaneously
just mentioned

that it was those
correctional officers

that had the confrontation
With her son,

and they hadn't gotten
over that.

We didn't confirm
who was behind it,

but she assumed accurately.

LATONYA: So, you know,
we turned around

and went back to the house.

They said they needed
to get some pictures

that seemed like
that somebody did kill him.

WARREN: You know,
they was telling me

that I have an option
to go with them

because someone was after me.

CHRIS: We need to make sure
you're protected,

and, hey, we need
to stage this murder.

[clock ticking]

Williams was positioned
on the floor

with what appeared to be
gunshot wounds to his chest,

which had been discussed
with Driver.

LATONYA: So you know, they--

they knocked some stuff around
on the floor.

- They poured water on me
like I peed my pants,

and they took a couple photos.

[camera clicking]

And after, we were to leave
and go to a hotel

until the situation
was under wraps.

TERRILL: He had been required
to stage his own death

and was whisked away.

It's--it's just something
that's unimaginable.

[camera clicking]

LATONYA:
When they took Warren,

they didn't tell me
where they was taking him.

It just something
that needed to happen.

[bluesy music]

WARREN: They didn't tell me
exactly who was after me,

because they wouldn't want to
ruin an ongoing investigation.

But I was able to,
you know, just trust them.

♪♪ ♪♪

CHRIS: The more evidence
you can bring

only helps
the prosecution's case.

To round out the case
and prove

that this was more
than just talk,

Joe Moore
was given a photo

to show them and ask again,
"Is this what you wanted?"

JOE: No one told me beforehand

that they were
going to set that up.

♪♪ ♪♪

SINGER:
♪♪ Hell, brimstone ♪♪

♪♪ Fire burn on ♪♪

♪♪ This is the fire ♪♪

♪♪ ♪♪

GEORGE:
The FBI hands you a phone

with a picture of
Warren Williams on the ground.

What did you think
when you saw that?

JOE: I'm thinking...
I failed.

And then they
sort of snickered

and laughed and said,

"It's just
a staged death scene.

We wanted to see
how effective it was."

♪♪ ♪♪

- And what did the FBI ask you
to do with that photo?

- I was to present this photo
to the three guys,

as I was the hit man.

I did this job to sort of

give the defendants a chance

to say they really

didn't intend this,

or to suggest that, yes,
this is what they wanted.

♪♪ ♪♪

JASON: He was outfitted
with a secret video camera.

And he knows
that his life is in danger.

He's seen what
these men are capable of.

They would kill him
if they found

that he was wearing a wire.

♪♪ ♪♪

JOE: I made messages
for my wife and children.

- In case something
happened to you?

- Because every day,

there's a chance
I wasn't coming home.

- What were they?

- The last words that

I felt they wanted to hear
from me.

♪♪ ♪♪

GEORGE: So what happened when
you showed them the phone?

JOE: When I drove
to meet with David Moran

to show him the photo,
I had a little bit of time

to get into character slowly

and think about
what I had to do.

♪♪ ♪♪

Moran was known for being

an extremely
dangerous person,

beating prisoners to within
an inch of their life,

and I was very worried
about showing him the photo.

- He was excited and gleeful,

and I thought to myself,

"How disgusting
can someone be?"

But I just had
to maintain my composure,

maintain my character.

- Don't interject,
and let him do the talking.

[engine turns over]

JOE: It was upsetting,
but I can't dwell on that.

I can't quit.
That's not an option.

It's on me to make this case.

JASON: At this point,
Joe is so deep in this case.

Even with all the stress,
there's a job to finish.

JOE: I met with Thomas Driver

at a parking lot
of a shopping mall

in Lake City, Florida.

Since this particular case
started with him,

it needed his approval.

- If Thomas Driver had said
that he didn't want

the target, Williams, dead,

the entire case
would have fell apart.

[chuckles]

JOE: He appeared to get
the blood that he wanted.

When I got back
into the vehicle...

I felt a huge relief.

[dramatic music]

However, when I had to go meet
with Charles Newcomb,

that was probably
the most intense meeting.

♪♪ ♪♪

He was certainly
the ringleader

and probably the most driven
of the three.

♪♪ ♪♪

Newcomb was so meticulous
and had an attention to detail.

It was alarming.

JOE:
Charles Newcomb was perhaps

most likely to ask
a dangerous question.

I expected him to ask,
"Where's the body?"

Because there's
a guy murdered.

We don't see anything
about it in the news.

Where's the body?

I had to come up with a way

to get him off of
his normal thought processes.

And I thought,
"OK, what can I do?"

I can pretend to be sick,

had powder on my face
to look like I was pale.

He looked at me,
and I kind of tried

to look like I was tired
and exhausted.

- I keep telling myself,
"Breathe, focus, listen,

breathe, focus, listen."

JOE: The moment
where Charles Newcomb

became happy with it,
I thought to myself,

"Thank God."

I have reached that crest.

But I had seen
so many false peaks

that I questioned myself,
"Is this really the end?"

REPORTER:
Shocking case coming to light.

Three KKK members,
who are current

and former
Florida corrections...

REPORTER:
The Attorney General,

Pam Bondi, was fired up
about these arrests.

- Hey, guys.

ANTWAN: Up at
Charlotte Correctional,

that's the prison
I went home from,

you know,
the 6:00 news came on.

So I'm like,
"Man, what is that?"

- Today, in conjunction
with the FBI,

three defendants were charged,

all with conspiracy
to commit first-degree murder.

ANTWAN: They showed the
pictures of the officers.

And I recognized chief.

I said, "That's Chief.
Man, what the hell?"

And then I heard the story.

PAM: All three were employees

of the Department
of Corrections

and are known alleged members

of the Ku Klux Klan.

- So it was--[chuckles]
I went through

all the emotions
sitting there watching this.

I'm not gonna lie,
my first thought was,

"These guards,
they done went crazy now."

- And, again, no one
has been convicted yet.

These are pending charges,

but the facts
of this case are despicable.

[soft dramatic music]

♪♪ ♪♪

WARREN: I saw that the
officers had gotten arrested.

I knew that
everything had worked out.

It was time
for me to go back home.

JOE: After Driver,
Newcomb, and Moran

were taken into custody...

my wife, my children,
and I were taken

into protective custody.

- The FBI had called us,
and they said

to get what you need
and you have to leave.

So fit everything that you can
into your car, and that's it.

♪♪ ♪♪

JOE: It's an incredibly
emotional feeling.

But I had to struggle
with this character

that I had been
for so many years.

You try to get back
to your life,

but it becomes
more and more difficult...

to discard or insulate
yourself from that character.

♪♪ ♪♪

- Joe being undercover
for so long,

it just--it takes a toll.

I was ready to start over new.

CHRIS:
The arrests occur in April.

And then two years later,
a trial.

Now Joe Moore

is going to testify

as the key state's witness.

JASON: Driver got a reduced,
four-year sentence

after entering a guilty plea
to a lesser charge.

Both Moran and Newcomb

stood trial for conspiracy
to commit murder.

LATONYA:
We got in the courthouse.

They had FBI agents there.

They had
so many polices there,

and Warren, he was all right.

He don't show
a lot of emotions.

He just hold 'em in.

♪♪ ♪♪

JOE: The defense in this case
was not able to attack

the facts of the case.

They couldn't deny the fact

of Williams
as being the victim.

The only thing
they could attack was me.

[tense music]

♪♪ ♪♪

- You got paid by the FBI?
- Yes.

- How much?

- For the 10-year span,

somewhere over $100,000.

GEORGE: And at the trial...
JOE: Yes.

GEORGE: The defense tried
to make an issue of this?

- Yes.

- But you say you weren't doing
this for the money.

- I was not.

At one point,
I actually told the FBI,

"Don't pay me anything.
Just cover expenses."

- The concept that Joe Moore
would not have been paid

or his payments were contingent

on positive reporting
or results is just a fallacy.

If his payments
were dependent on arrests

or successful operations,

then we wouldn't have been
paying him up to that point.

- Defense also tried to argue
that your mental-health issues

made you an unreliable witness.

- That's fine.

Prove it.

- Not one element
of his mental-health struggles

dealt with truthfulness,

and they can say
his truthfulness

was suspect all they want.

Tapes don't lie.

JASON: Joe weathered
the cross-examination well,

and the jury found him
credible enough

to find these men guilty.

Moran and Newcomb were
sentenced to 12 years each.

LATONYA:
And I thank God for it,

and I thank God
for the informant

that told his story,

that put his life
on the line for us,

because this could
have been so wrong.

It could have been so wrong.

[instrumental hip-hop beat]

JASON: For Warren,
even though that plot

was foiled and these men
were put in prison,

he lives with a constant fear
that someone's gonna come

and finish what
their Klan brothers couldn't.

LATONYA:
People know who we are,

but we don't know
who all they are.

TERRILL:
And so he found himself

just stuck in the house
and looking out the window

and making sure
no strange cars were around.

And that's a very difficult
place to be

for years, for a lifetime.

WARREN: I kind of like
being alone more,

but I try not to have
too many friends because...

I really can't trust
everybody in the world.

LATONYA: He will sit
in the house and make beats,

He write poems.

He's more into poetry
and music.

I don't really think
he even talk to people.

You know,
it was hard for him

to come out the house.

Warren hasn't been fishing.

- That serenity
has totally been shattered

because that thing
that he loves to do

was part of the plan
of the Klan to kill him.

[soft dramatic music]

♪♪ ♪♪

I had one very simple question
after reporting

this story for Florida's
corrections officials.

If you know
that there were Klansmen

working in one of your prisons,

what have you done

to investigate whether or not

this is a wider problem?

And I was told by them
that there was no indication

or evidence that would lead
to a wider investigation.

I know that's not true
in a couple of ways.

One, Joe Moore told me
that he had evidence

that other members of the Klan

had also worked
at that same prison.

JOE:
As Grand Nighthawk,

I had access
to membership lists,

and that information
was vetted.

This list has not only
Thomas Driver,

David Moran, and
Charles Newcomb on the list,

it has other
law enforcement officers

on the list as well.

JASON: Beyond Joe's list,
my investigation

found numerous
more recent cases

of Florida prison guards

who are suspected members
of white supremacist groups

at prisons throughout
the state of Florida,

not just the Florida Reception
and Medical Center.

This is QAnon symbolism here.

It's like a "Punisher."

If you drive to
the parking lot of the prison

where these Klansmen work,
you will see

symbols that are used
by white supremacist groups

slapped on as stickers
on the cars

in the employee parking lot,

and you would think that
as somebody who works

for a state institution,
those types of symbols,

while covered
by the First Amendment,

would still be frowned upon.

There's
an institutional indifference

by the Department
of Corrections

to my questions and
to this problem as a whole.

And we know this is just not
a Florida problem.

It's just not
a correctional problem.

- White nationalists
are seeing it as their time.

[people chanting]

[impacts, people screaming,
tires screeching]

MERRICK: The top domestic
violent extremist threat

we face comes from racially

or ethnically motivated
violent extremists,

specifically those who advocate
for the superiority

of the white race.

JASON: Louisiana...

- Tonight
a Lake Arthur police officer

is out of a job over
a controversial picture...

REPORTER: Taken at
a Ku Klux Klan meeting.

- Michigan...

- Muskegon police officer
is now on leave

after KKK memorabilia
was discovered in his home.

- Ohio...

- The Sheffield Lake
police chief has resigned

after video emerged
of him placing KKK imagery

on a raincoat
belonging to a Black officer.

JASON: So the Klan is also
evolving and morphing,

often joining up
with other more modern groups.

all: [shouting indistinctly]
Stop the steal!

GREG: From the Proud Boys
to the Oath Keepers

to the Klan,

that ribbon of racial identity
or white supremacy

runs through all of them.

PERSON:
You fucking traitors!

GREG: These groups are trying
to recruit law enforcement,

and they're using
and twisting these symbols.

CHRIS: They're armed.
They've had training.

They have access
to confidential information.

GREG:
When we talk about extremism

within law enforcement,

I've heard 1%.
I've heard 2%.

Nobody wants to hear, "It's OK.
I have 2% cancer."

It's going to spread.

JASON: The states that have
tried to implement screening

have come against
the correctional guards unions,

and they're powerful.

You see in the federal level,

hearings and discussions,
at least,

of these types of problems,
but at the state level,

they're not seemed
to be taken very seriously.

[indistinct shouting]

TERRILL: And it's something
that has to stop.

Until America decides

to live its creed...

and face up to its flaws,

there will continue
to be stories

that shock the conscience.

JASON: After the trial,
Joe's identity

is now discoverable

because he testified
in open court.

- It's the last goal
of the Bureau,

or any law enforcement,
is to expose your informants.

Is it the case in some states
and jurisdictions?

Sometimes you're required to.

- He is responsible
for putting away

members of the Ku Klux Klan.

It's a betrayal,
not only of his Klan oath

from the Klan point of view,

but also these men
who he'd befriended.

The FBI gave him
and his family

a new identity, new names

and put him
into Witness Protection.

But at some point,

someone who is affiliated
with the Klan contacted Joe

and said,
"We know where you are."

JOE: We have had
representatives

from the KKK come
to our house,

let us know
they know where we live.

We've had supporters of KKK
contact us on our phones.

I have no choice
but to come out and speak

to the general public

in an effort to try
to bring light to the issues

that I uncovered
when I was undercover.

If something
were to happen to me

because of the threats,

I needed the world
to know the truth.

ZOE: So the youngest
doesn't grasp

what Daddy has really done,

but as far
as my two older children,

they look
at my husband as a hero.

- You recently met
Warren Williams.

JOE: Yes, I did.

[soft dramatic music]

How you doing, Warren?
Nice to finally meet you.

- Nice to meet you, too.

- Thank you so much
for coming over.

- I'd like to say thank you
for what you did for me.

- You got it, man.
You got it.

- Thank you.

JOE:
When I met Warren Williams...

I...

I was fighting back the tears.

You just want to open
that gate right there for me?

Warren and I,
we both like to fish.

I could see
that when he's fishing,

he's just--
it's just him and nature.

♪♪ ♪♪

And it's just mind-blowing

how people can have
so much disdain

for a fellow human being,

certainly one
as such as Warren is.

- Can I ask
a personal question?

- Sure.
- It's not towards you.

- Oh, you can ask me anything.
- It has to do with me.

- OK.

- No matter who you are,
no matter how old you are,

you don't always
make good decisions.

- Uh-huh.

- Someone has to be there
to protect you.

Through thick and thin,
somebody should be there...

right?

- Like...

having somebody
you can go to for advice...

or...

- The kind of person you are.

- Oh.
[chuckles]

So, in your situation,

you were not treated fairly.

There were so many things
wrong with that.

And...

I sympathize with things

that you might
have gone through,

and...

it's not any more complicated
than that.

[tender music]

LATONYA: Warren have
a beautiful soul.

He do.

He's a great person.

I raised Warren

to be the man that I would want
to marry one day.

[laughs]
And he is.

He is.

JOE:
All right.

There you go, buddy--
a little one-pounder.

LATONYA:
I want him

to at least try
to move on with his life...

but I don't know
if that will ever happen.

♪♪ ♪♪

TERRILL: But I think he's
found a way to continue on.

He'll be able to talk
about his experiences

through poetry.

♪♪ ♪♪

WARREN: "Love is trust.
Love is compromise.

Love is a must
in order to survive."

TERRILL: He has a story
that America needs to hear.

He has a story
that the world needs to hear.

And he's got a voice

that's gonna allow him
to share that story.

WARREN: Love is a promise.
Keep love alive.

♪♪ ♪♪

Know who you love before you
define who to hate.

♪♪ ♪♪

The love you give
is the love you get.

♪♪ ♪♪

No matter where you stand,
no matter whom you're with.

♪♪ ♪♪