CHAPTER XII
ATROCITIES COMMITTED IN THE NAME OF KU KLUX KLAN[ToC]
Ku Klux Klan Knights of Beaumont, Texas, issue a justification for taking the law into Their own hands.
Confession that the Ku Klux Klan uses tar and feathers and the lash to punish persons whose actions it condemns is made by the Klansmen of Beaumont, Tex. The Beaumont Ku Klux Klan organization tarred and feathered Dr. J.S. Paul and R.F. Scott and later acknowledged, under its official seal, that its members did the job.
"Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, No. 7, Beaumont, Texas," admitted taking the law into their own hands in a statement dated July 21, 1921. This statement was made to the editors of two newspapers of Beaumont. It sought to justify the "tar and feather party" and gave warning that the "heavy hand of the Ku Klux Klan" was waiting to yank other persons from their beds in case they came into its displeasure.
SHOW SIMMONS MISREPRESENTS
Grand Wizard William J. Simmons has declared publicly that the Ku Klux did not indulge in midnight raids on defenseless victims whom it tarred and feathered. He has defended the Ku Klux Klan by ascribing these unlawful actions to imposters who use the regalia of the Ku Klux. The Beaumont incident proves that the Ku Klux not only was responsible for assaults on Dr. Paul and Scott, but that it boasted of its exploits with them.