White supremacist group seeks rebrand but retains exclusionary ideology

A Ku Klux Klan-linked organisation in Arkansas is attempting to present itself under a new name while retaining its white nationalist beliefs, according to an Al Jazeera report. The organisation, formerly known as the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, has shortened its name to The Knights Party. Its members told Al Jazeera correspondent Phil Lavelle that they were seeking to centre their message on family and faith.

However, when asked whether a Black person would be welcome at the group’s church, leader Thomas Robb replied that they would not because it was a “white nationalist church”. Robb, a Christian pastor, has led the organisation since 1989. He has changed his public title from “grand wizard” to “national director”, permitted confidential participation by mail and distanced the group’s public outreach from Klan violence.

The report said he continued to express the racist philosophy associated with the organisation. Asked about Muslim politicians Zohran Mamdani and Abdul El-Sayed, Robb said they were not Americans, including when told that El-Sayed was born in Michigan. The KKK began in 1865 after the US Civil War and used lynchings and other violence to oppose civil rights for Black people and maintain racial divisions, according to the report.

The Southern Poverty Law Center estimates that at least 152 white supremacist organisations are active in the United States. Al Jazeera also reported that the Patriot Front marched in Washington during the Independence Day holiday this year. A 2025 Public Religion Research Institute survey of more than 20,000 US adults found that 32% agreed with a statement associated with the “great replacement” conspiracy theory.

The survey result does not establish support for the Knights Party specifically. Robb claimed white nationalist sentiment had grown since Barack Obama’s 2008 election, but declined to provide membership figures or evidence that his organisation’s support was increasing.