A judge previously found that Darrell McClanahan "identifies himself as a 'pro-white man.' Plaintiff also identifies himself as being an 'honorary member' of at least two organizations: the Knight's Party Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and the League of the South."
A Missouri man who described himself as "pro-white-man" and said he received an honorary membership to the Knight's Party Ku Klux Klan will be allowed to run as a candidate for governor.
The Missouri Republican Party lost its bid to remove Darrell Leon McClanahan from the gubernatorial ballot ahead of the upcoming primary race.
In his opinion released on May 17, Circuit Court Judge Cotton Walker said that the Petition for Injunctive Relief filed by the plaintiff in this case failed on a number of levels. The relief requested by the MRSC in that petition was for the court to "enter a permanent injunction enjoining the Secretary of State from certifying Mr. McClanahan’s name on the Republican Party primary ballot for Governor."
Walker denied that request, and started off his opinion by saying that the MRSC "has not properly pled and proven any constitutional violation."
He also said that the Missouri GOP "has not clearly stated any particular harm it believes it would suffer from McClanahan’s mere presence on the ballot," and that the "failure to articulate or prove any specific harm that might result in the absence of the requested relief also precludes this Court from granting the relief sought."
In the petition, filed in March, the MRSC said that it found a social media post from McClanahan's account that said, "If you have nothing good to say about [Black racial slur] let’s be friends."
There were also "multiple social media posts using Nazi imagery; a social media post stating: ‘White Power’ (using the pseudonym Gordon Kahl); [and] a photograph on social media showing Mr. McClanahan standing next to a person wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood and robe, in front of a burning cross, with both persons raising their right arms in what appears to be a Nazi salute," according to the petition.
Those posts all came to light in a 2022 article published by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
In 2023, McClanahan sued the ADL but a judge granted the group's motion to dismiss the case, saying that the gubernatorial hopeful failed to demonstrate a legitimate claim of defamation, libel or invasion of privacy.
In her order, Judge Jill A. Morris wrote:
[T]he Complaint itself reflects that Plaintiff holds the views ascribed to him by the ADL article, that is the characterization of his social media presence and views as antisemitic, white supremacist, anti-government, and bigoted. In the initial paragraph of the Complaint, Plaintiff identifies himself as a "Pro-White man." Plaintiff also identifies himself as being an "honorary member" of at least two organizations: the Knight's Party Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and the League of the South. The ADL-published article includes an image of Plaintiff standing in front of a burning cross alongside an individual in KKK regalia. Both are seen giving the stiff-arm Nazi salute, accompanied by a caption that reads, "McClanahan with Knights Party leaders Thomas and Jason Robb at a cross-burning circa 2019."
The Missouri GOP said in its petition that despite this post and the subsequent lawsuit, they were unaware of McClanahan's views until February of this year.
McClanahan did not respond to Inside Edition Digital's request for comment.
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