The Segregationists

The Segregationists. . The Alabama Knights of the Ku Klux Klan had known about the Freedom Ride since mid-April and had detailed information on the city-by-city itinerary, thanks to FBI memos forwarded to the Birmingham Police Department. In a series of secret meetings in April and mid-May, the Klansmen prepared a "welcome" for the Riders. Conspiring with Birmingham's ultra-segregationist commissioner of public safety, Eugene "Bull" Connor, the Klan was assured by Birmingham police sergeant Tom Cook they would have 15 minutes in which they could "beat 'em, bomb 'em, maim, or kill 'em … assure every Klansman in the country that no one will be arrested in Alabama for that 15 minutes." Meanwhile, informants had shared all this information with the FBI, which simply watched and waited for fear of revealing the identity of their informants., During a meeting of the Alabama Klan's board of directors in Tuscaloosa on May 13, the plot to attack the "outside agitators" from CORE was ratified. The plan called for an initial assault in Anniston, the Riders' first scheduled stop in Alabama, followed by a mop-up action in Birmingham., The Anniston klavern, led by Kenneth Adams, did not belong to the Alabama Knights KKK confederation but they were more than happy to help out with the welcoming party. Adams was a notorious racist, who had beaten black singer Nat King Cole during a performance in Birmingham in 1956. None of the conspirators in Birmingham trusted Adams' planning skills so Connor sent Cook to Anniston on May 12 to ensure everything was in order. From there, Cook went on to Atlanta to survey the bus stations where the unsuspecting Freedom Riders were scheduled to depart on May 14.