Belew 2018

Main Argument:

Intro:

Chapter 2: Building the Underground

• Louis Beam in 1977 purchased 50 acres of swampland using the Texas Veterans Land Board Grant
• He created a training facility which transformed Klansmen into Soldiers
  • Curating a paramilitary that was unified by a white power movement, would implement various methods to target undocumented immigrants such as a Klan border watch
• Southern Poverty Law Center banned paramilitary training, further fueled this movement
• Shared acts of violence, such as the harassment of Vietnamese refugees tied members together to share a common purpose

Beams Creation of His Own Group

• In 1968, he joined the United Klans of America, but left due to the governments interference
• He searched for other opportunities, exploring five options, but they each had a problem that made them not desirable to join according to Beam
• Instead he created his own group
• The Vietnam war was utilized as the basis of his actions and narrative
  • He believed the war wasn't over when he returned home in America, which he used as a excuse for his violent actions
• In 1975 he affiliated his independent Klan with the Knights of the Klu Klux Klan
  • Managed by David Duke, claiming they did not advocate for the denial of minority rights but the rights to only associate with white people
• Beam felt he had the right to defend his race against immigration, which he viewed as a threat
• Although they put up a soft public front, they had several violent underground activities and violence was the basis of their ties; Beam even had kill zones throughout the US

The Klans

• The Klan Paramilitary camps sought to copy army training-one surge of violence was to carry out the past excitement of "army scenes"
  • Veterans made up a large majority of the third Klan resurgence
• Klansmen asserted they were doing the workings of the state by participating in the Klan border watch
• They sought to intimidate immigrants to an extent in which they would be worried to cross because of the Klans Border Watch
  • A reporter went undercover as an undocumented immigrant, and heard several violent stories about the Klan border watch that induced fear in these immigrants

Expansion

• Beam advanced as Klan leader and sought to expand his camp, Camp Puller
• Expansion was dependent on two factors, social and financial investment, which came from a close group of Klan supporters
• In the fall of 1980 however Camp Puller had several parental complaints and undercover reports which drew attraction to it
  • They were teaching high-schoolers horrific violent acts such as decapitation, hijacking airplanes etc.

Klan Continuation

• The camps were also preparing for antigovernment combat, and prepared to rage a race war
• Due to economic crisis, the refugee's were seen as potential economic competitors
• There were tensions arising given that refugees were receiving support from the government, whereas veterans were seeing a lack thereof
  • This narrative was used by Klan members to fuel their racism
• The Klan further promoted violence against the Vietnamese refugees by putting forth racist tropes
  • Claiming they carried several diseases-increase harassment toward Vietnamese fishermen
• In Santa Fe on February 14 roughly 300-400 people attended a Klan rally
  • During this Rally the Klan gave the government a deadline to remove the Vietnamese fisherman out of the golf, if not the Klan would then step in and take action
  • The deadline was May 15
• Robed Klansmen went on bay patrol, there was sympathy for white fishermen
  • During the patrol they had a lynched Vietnamese refugee hung
• The threats intensified
  • Due to this the Vietnamese community gathered and filed a harassment suit
  • Many Vietnamese refugees tired of dealing with this harassment, in March of 1981 offered to leave on the condition that the White people buy the boats back
  • Since they were overcharged, few white boatsmen could afford to buy back
• As depositions began the Klan employed intimidation tactics to make the Vietnamese refugees fearful
• Beam responded by using the Vietnamese war as basis for his actions
• The court ruled in favor of the Vietnamese, claiming the Klan did pose as a threat
  • As a result they prohibited many of their actions, including boat burning, wearing Klan robes in a group larger than two people, etc
• McDonald, the judge, received threats posts ruling
• Mark White, Texas District Attorney in June shifted the focus from Vietnamese fisherman to the larger issue at hand, the paramilitary camps