Thomas Robb
Encyclopedia
Thomas Robb, also known as Thom Robb, is the national director of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, and a pastor at the Christian Revival Center.
into a Baptist
family and grew up in Tucson, Arizona
.
Robb's parents shared some political views with Joseph McCarthy
, Gerald L.K. Smith, Kenneth Goff
, and Conde McGinley
. Robb claims to have become awakened to the "Myth of the Holocaust" at the age of 13 while reading Conde McGinley's anti-Communist and antisemitic paper Common Sense. While still in high school he was an outspoken supporter of segregation
ist ideals and an active member of the John Birch Society
.
, which is the birthplace of the Ku Klux Klan
. The event eventually became known as the White Christian Heritage Festival, held each October in Pulaski. Over the years Robb has developed a close relationship with other extremists including, J. B. Stoner
, Ed Fields, Don Black, David Duke
, Willis Carto
, Billy Roper, Michael Collins Piper
, Canadian extremist Paul Fromm and former Croatian diplomat Tomislav Sunic
.
Robb, a prolific writer, defends the Klan as a harmless organization, "gentle, upbeat, and friendly". When featured in the PBS documentary Banished, Robb compared a Klan hood to a businessman's tie, claiming that "it's just tradition." Robb is a pastor who believes in creationism
, "or as some call intelligent design," and rejects evolution
as "an attack upon our faith." He is the pastor of a church, Christian Revival Center, and broadcasts on shortwave radio and Stormfront
internet radio.
In July 2009, his group lost a lawsuit and was ordered to pay $25,000 in punitive damages to the Rhino Times, a North Carolina
newspaper, which it was illegally using to spread its propaganda. The case was filed in 2006 when the paper charged that the Klan inserted its fliers into editions of Rhino Times. The Klan counter-sued for defamation, but the case was dismissed. Recent attention has focused on his family, such as his daughter Rachel Pendergraft and his granddaughters, Charity and Shelby Pendergraft, who have recently formed a "white nationalist" band called Heritage Connection.
Early life
Thomas Robb was born in Detroit, MichiganMichigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
into a Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
family and grew up in Tucson, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
.
Robb's parents shared some political views with Joseph McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
, Gerald L.K. Smith, Kenneth Goff
Kenneth Goff
Kenneth Goff was a Christian Identity minister and anti-Communist crusader. He was the 1944 national chairman of Gerald L. K. Smith's Christian Youth for America. According to his biographical material, he was a member of the Communist Party of the United States of America from May 2, 1936, to...
, and Conde McGinley
Conde McGinley
Michael Conde McGinley editor of a semi-monthly paper called Common Sense, brought briefly to the nation's attention by his involvement against the nomination of Anna M...
. Robb claims to have become awakened to the "Myth of the Holocaust" at the age of 13 while reading Conde McGinley's anti-Communist and antisemitic paper Common Sense. While still in high school he was an outspoken supporter of segregation
Racial segregation in the United States
Racial segregation in the United States, as a general term, included the racial segregation or hypersegregation of facilities, services, and opportunities such as housing, medical care, education, employment, and transportation along racial lines...
ist ideals and an active member of the John Birch Society
John Birch Society
The John Birch Society is an American political advocacy group that supports anti-communism, limited government, a Constitutional Republic and personal freedom. It has been described as radical right-wing....
.
Activities
In 1986, Robb organized a protest against the Martin Luther King National Holiday in Pulaski, TennesseePulaski, Tennessee
Pulaski is a city in Giles County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 7,870 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Giles County. It was named to honor the Polish-born American Revolutionary War hero Kazimierz Pułaski...
, which is the birthplace of the Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
. The event eventually became known as the White Christian Heritage Festival, held each October in Pulaski. Over the years Robb has developed a close relationship with other extremists including, J. B. Stoner
J. B. Stoner
Jesse Benjamin "J.B." Stoner was an American segregationist who was convicted in 1980 of the bombing in 1958 of the Bethel Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.J. B...
, Ed Fields, Don Black, David Duke
David Duke
David Ernest Duke is a former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan an American activist and writer, and former Republican Louisiana State Representative. He was also a former candidate in the Republican presidential primaries in 1992, and in the Democratic presidential primaries in...
, Willis Carto
Willis Carto
Willis Allison Carto is a longtime figure on the American far right. He describes himself as Jeffersonian and populist, but is primarily known for his promotion of antisemitic conspiracy theories and Holocaust denial.-Influences on Carto:...
, Billy Roper, Michael Collins Piper
Michael Collins Piper
Michael Collins Piper is a political writer, conspiracy theorist, and talk radio host living in Washington D.C. He is a regular contributor to the American Free Press, a newspaper backed by Willis Carto....
, Canadian extremist Paul Fromm and former Croatian diplomat Tomislav Sunic
Tomislav Sunic
Tomislav Sunić is a Croatian-American writer, translator, professor and a former diplomat. He is best known for his books and writings critical of egalitarianism, biblical monotheism, and liberal political discourse. He serves as one of the , a political party considered to be favorable to...
.
Robb, a prolific writer, defends the Klan as a harmless organization, "gentle, upbeat, and friendly". When featured in the PBS documentary Banished, Robb compared a Klan hood to a businessman's tie, claiming that "it's just tradition." Robb is a pastor who believes in creationism
Creationism
Creationism is the religious beliefthat humanity, life, the Earth, and the universe are the creation of a supernatural being, most often referring to the Abrahamic god. As science developed from the 18th century onwards, various views developed which aimed to reconcile science with the Genesis...
, "or as some call intelligent design," and rejects evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
as "an attack upon our faith." He is the pastor of a church, Christian Revival Center, and broadcasts on shortwave radio and Stormfront
Stormfront (website)
Stormfront is a white nationalist and supremacist neo-Nazi Internet forum that has been described as the Internet's first major hate site.Stormfront began as an online bulletin board system in the early 1990s before being established as a website in 1995 by former Ku Klux Klan leader and white...
internet radio.
In July 2009, his group lost a lawsuit and was ordered to pay $25,000 in punitive damages to the Rhino Times, a North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
newspaper, which it was illegally using to spread its propaganda. The case was filed in 2006 when the paper charged that the Klan inserted its fliers into editions of Rhino Times. The Klan counter-sued for defamation, but the case was dismissed. Recent attention has focused on his family, such as his daughter Rachel Pendergraft and his granddaughters, Charity and Shelby Pendergraft, who have recently formed a "white nationalist" band called Heritage Connection.