17 Facts About Ron Stallworth

Ron Stallworth was born on June 18,1953 and is an American retired police officer who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in the late 1970s.

Ron Stallworth was the first African-American detective in the Colorado Springs Police Department.

Ron Stallworth was born in Chicago, Illinois, on June 18,1953.

Ron Stallworth grew up in El Paso, Texas, after his mother moved the family there.

Ron Stallworth graduated from Austin High School in 1971, where he was both a member of the student council, and of a district-wide advisory board; he was voted "most popular".

In mid-1972, Ron Stallworth's family moved to Colorado Springs, where he first took an interest in a career in law enforcement.

Ron Stallworth was asked if he would go undercover to observe the speech.

Ron Stallworth eagerly accepted and was later assigned to the intelligence section of his department.

In 1978, Ron Stallworth noticed a classified ad in the local paper seeking members to start a new chapter of the Ku Klux Klan in the city.

Ron Stallworth arranged to meet the man at a local bar and sent a white undercover narcotics officer to stand in for him at the meeting, wired to record any conversations.

The subterfuge was a success, and Ron Stallworth continued to pose as a Klan member for the next nine months, usually talking on the phone with other members and sending the white officer in his place when face-to-face meetings were necessary.

Ron Stallworth phoned David Duke, who was the Klan's Grand Wizard at the time, at his headquarters in New Orleans to ask about the status of his membership application.

Duke apologized for the delay in getting the application processed and promised to see to it personally that Ron Stallworth's application was processed and sent to him.

Ron Stallworth framed the certificate and hung it on his office wall, where it stayed for years.

Ron Stallworth transferred to the Utah Department of Public Safety, where he worked as an investigator for nearly 20 years.

In January 2006, Ron Stallworth gave an interview to Salt Lake City's Deseret News in which he described his infiltration and investigation of the Klan and later disclosed that the investigation revealed several members were on active duty with the US Armed Forces, including two individuals posted at NORAD.

In 2014, Ron Stallworth published a book titled Black Klansman about his investigative experience.