Donald Trump’s Father’s KKK Ties: Fred Trump Named In 1927 Klan Members’ Clash With Police

Donald Trump’s father — Fred Trump — was named in a 1927 clash that the Ku-Klux Klan had with police in New York. A report picked up by Boing Boing revealed that a man with same name and address as Trump’s father was involved in the KKK conflict in Queens, New York.

The news article published June 1, 1927, subtitled, “Klan assails policeman,” was discovered following an incident in which Fred Trump was one of those named who were taken into police custody following a “battle” that took place in late May of that year against police. It read, “1,000 Klansmen and 100 policemen staged a free-for-all.”

According to the report, at least two officers were injured during the violent confrontation; the Klan’s activities were “denounced by the city’s Police Commissioner, Joseph A. Warren,” Boing Boing reports.

Warren identified seven men “arrested in the near-riot of the parade.” He said that it was hard to see the men because they had on gowns.

“The Klan not only wore gowns, but had hoods over their faces almost completely hiding their identity.”

In addition to Donald Trump’s father being named in the KKK clash against police, John E. Kapp and John Marcy were charged with “felonious assault in the attack on Patrolman William O’Neill and Sgt. William Lockyear.” The other men named were Thomas Caroll, Thomas Erwin, Fred Lyons, and Harry J. Free. All of them were arraigned in Jamaica, New York, and represented by the same attorneys.

Fred Trump’s address was listed in the report as 175-24 Devonshire Road, Jamaica. Several sources have confirmed that this was, in fact, Trump’s residence throughout his life.

It noted in the report that he was “discharged” after the KKK run-in with cops. He was a 21-year-old in 1927 and hadn’t yet reached high-profile status as a successful real estate developer.

As its pointed out in the latest findings, this doesn’t prove that Donald Trump’s father was a member of the Ku Klux Klan or was even present during the riot situation. It’s suggested that he might have even been an “innocent bystander” or “falsely named” in an event in which he was the victim of “mistaken identity.”

The N.Y.C. Police Department’s Records Section were called, but arrest reports aren’t available from that far back. Trump’s campaign office has also been contacted for any information regarding this speculation.

Fred Trump died in 1999. He was born in the Bronx to German immigrants. He went on to become a real estate developer in his teens, which led him to amazing wealth and helped his son get a big start in life.

The elder Trump was was constructing single-family houses in Queens around the time he would have been arrested, according to his obituary that was published in the New York Times. His net worth was reportedly between $250 million and $300 million.

Another article that doesn’t help Donald Trump’s father with regard to possible ties with the Ku Klux Klan, is one from 1979 published by Village Voice. It reported on a 1975 civil suit alleging that the Trumps refused to rent to black people seeking homes. It also quoted a rental agent who claimed that Fred Trump told him not to rent to blacks and to press those already living in the homes to leave. The case was settled as a consent degree — described as “one of the most far-reaching ever negotiated.”

Apparently, the Justice Department complained that continuing “racially discriminatory conduct by Trump agents has occurred with such frequency that it has created a substantial impediment to the full enjoyment of equal opportunity.”

With Donald Trump running for president and his views of immigration often stirring controversy, the alleged actions of his father are being further scrutinized. Although Fred Trump’s possible support of the KKK aren’t any fault of his son’s, the tone of the businessman’s political campaign could reflect on how Donald Trump’s father was an influence in some way.

[Photo Credit: YouTube screenshot]