Florida town stunned by news of police officers' KKK ties

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http://www.policeone.com/chiefs-sheriffs/articles/7391190-Fla-town-stunned-by-news-of-officers-KKK-ties/

Ann Hunnewell and her central Florida police officer husband knelt in the living room of a fellow officer's home, with pillow cases as makeshift hoods over their heads. A few words were spoken and they, along with a half-dozen others, were initiated into the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan, she says.

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Last week, that five-year-old initiation ceremony stunned residents of the small town of Fruitland Park, who found out an investigative report linked two city officers with the secret hate society that once was violently active in the area.

Ann Hunnewell's ex-husband, George Hunnewell, was fired, and deputy chief David Borst resigned from the 13-member Fruitland Park Police Department. Borst has denied being a member.

James Elkins, a third officer who Ann Hunnewell says recruited her and her husband, resigned in 2010 after his Klan ties became public.

Last week, residents were told Borst and the Hunnewells had been members of the United Northern and Southern Knights Chapter of the Ku Klux Klan, though its presence in their town wasn't noticeable.

The news about sworn police officers perhaps being part of the Klan doesn't sit well with many in Fruitland Park, which calls itself the "Friendly City," the mayor said. Adding to the influx of retirees, The Villages has plans to build housing for 4,000 residents, which would almost double the city's population.

"I'm shocked, very shocked," said Chery Mion, who lives in The Villages but works in a Fruitland Park gift shop next door to the mayor's office. "I didn't think that organization was still around. Yes, in the 1950s. But this 2014, and it's rather disconcerting to know."