Kansas City News Blog

If you pick up a print edition of The Pitch this week, it should be Klan-free.

Following this recent cover story on activities by local hate groups, the National Socialist Movement – or NSM -- has instructed its members not to stuff copies of The Pitch with Nazi and Ku Klux Klan literature.

Tim Bishop, the second-in-command for the National Socialist Movement and leader of the Kansas branch, said he instructed Adrian Trentadue, the subject of the article, to stop inserting literature into The Pitch.

Trentatdue has declined to speak about the article. But Sunny Fletcher, who identified himself as public liaison for local NSM members, said Trentadue remains a member of the organization. “He withdrew a little bit but he’s coming out of it,” Fletcher said.

As for Turk, the other KKK member featured in the story, The Pitch discovered after publication that his real name is John Dizon. He uses the alias “Turk” for his activities in hate groups, as a member of the band the Spoiler, and as a professional wrestler with his company, the Independence Wrestling Association. Dizon is the wrestler challenging Tony Gonzales in this video:

In an e-mail exchange with The Pitch, Dizon said he’s faced a “publicity nightmare” since the story appeared. “You may consider the fact that I was meeting you as a Klansman’ and that I was playing a role just as much as you were, although the political beliefs were there,” Dizon wrote. “Surely you don't think I would've sent you the same 'city guide' you refer to if you would've approached me as a reporter, a student, or a traveler. I wouldn't have dressed the same for an initial meeting either, you know how first impressions are. Nor would our discussion have been quite the same. You deceived me into thinking you were one of the 'group' and I responded accordingly. Of course, if we were to meet again, you'd hardly be meeting the same person,” Turk, and Independence resident, wrote in an e-mail response to request for a follow-up meeting.

Dizon has shut down the Yahoo Groups chat room he set up for local KKK members. But he did not, apparently, bear any personal animosity for the story. “It's too bad you weren't for real, I thought we could've been friends. Feature articles in tabloids only last a week, friendships last a lifetime,” Dizon wrote. “You'll find out their value as you grow older.”

According to state records, Turk was licensed as a substitute teacher in the Independence school district in the 2005-06 and 2006-07 school years. Independence district community relations director Elizabeth Streich said no one at the district recognized Dizon from the story and that he had last taught in March 2006. His KKK membership would not preclude him from teaching in the future. “No there’s no reason it would,” Streich said. “It’s not a crime.” – Peter Rugg