A former leader in the KKK has changed his life by helping others to combat hate by identifying past traumas that may have created those hateful views, a local ABC affiliate has reported.
Chris Buckley, who lives in Walker County, used to be a national security leader for the Ku Klux Klan, but left in 2016 and turned his life around when he met a Syrian refugee, who has since become his friend, who showed him compassion.
Watch this moving interview with Chris Buckley as he talks about how his life has changed:He also found a mentor in Arno Michaels, who according to the Good News Network was formerly a member of one of the "largest racist skinhead organizations in America."
News reporter Kiley Thomas tweeted about Buckley's change, writing;
"Chris Buckley, who lives in Walker County, was once a leader in the KKK. Buckley left the Georgia White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in 2016. He says he learned hate during his troubling childhood in Cleveland, OH. He also learned to hate Muslims serving overseas in the Army."
Four years on, Buckley says he is using “what he knows to change the world." He is working with a nonprofit called Parents For Peace and helping others to identify how they came to hold hateful ideas.
Parents For Peace describes its mission on its website;
"Parents For Peace’s mission is to support families, friends, and communities concerned about someone becoming involved with extremism. We do this by operating a helpline to provide guidance and early intervention, raising public awareness, and advocating for increased oversight in the social media space."
Parents For Peace wrote of Chris Buckley's journey on Twitter, saying;
"Chris Buckley of GA is a war veteran. When he returned from Iraq, he joined the KKK as an Imperial Nighthawk, because their racist values were consistent with his worldview. Today he gives speeches, trying to educate the public about the dangers of white supremacist extremism."
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