A gripping account of a foiled Ku Klux Klan murder plot and the FBI’s involvement using an undercover informant takes center stage in a new documentary by ABC and The Associated Press.

Under the cover of darkness, scores of Ku Klux Klan members, clad in their white robes, congregated around a blazing cross in an isolated field in North Florida back in December 2014. After the ritual concluded, three Klansmen sought a private conversation with the group’s Grand Knighthawk, a designated Klan hitman. The Knighthawk was Joe Moore, an ex-Army sniper whose military background had facilitated his swift ascent through the Klan hierarchy. The trio presented Moore with a photograph of a Black man they wanted eliminated.

The chilling tale of the Klan’s assassination scheme and the covert recordings made by the hitman over several months in 2015 laid the groundwork for an eye-opening 2021 investigative series by the Associated Press, titled “The Badge and The Cross.” The series utilized this harrowing story as a springboard to delve into the pervasive issue of white supremacist groups infiltrating law enforcement agencies.

Premiering on Thursday, the Hulu documentary “Grand Knighthawk: Infiltrating the KKK” draws inspiration from the AP’s acclaimed investigative series. Produced by ABC News Studios and George Stephanopoulos Productions, the documentary marks the first collaboration between these entities and The AP.

White Supremacist Infiltration Threatens US Law Enforcement: An Investigative Series

The FBI has been warning of the infiltration of white supremacist groups within US law enforcement agencies as a significant threat since at least 2006. A recent investigative series by the Associated Press (AP) has brought this issue to the forefront.

The series began with a chilling account of a modern-day murder plot hatched by members of the Traditionalist American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in Florida, who were also officers in the Florida Department of Corrections.

In 2020, AP journalist Jason Dearen obtained hours of covertly recorded audio and video conversations from the Klan group, revealing a detailed plan to murder a Black man in 2015. The series’ first installment offered a window into the violent world of white supremacists within law enforcement, featuring interviews with experts on police violence, racism, and white supremacist groups while identifying implicated officers across the US.

The second part of the series delved into the issue of racism within Florida’s prisons, exposing the systemic indifference of the state’s corrections officials. Records and interviews with current and former guards, as well as state prison investigators, revealed that officers reported for white supremacist group affiliations were seldom investigated and could move between prisons without repercussions.

A whistleblower’s account highlighted how Florida’s corrections system is structured to keep such reports confined within prison walls.

In a surprising turn of events, after the first two stories exposed the pervasive problem, Dearen received an email from Joseph Moore, an FBI informant who had been undercover within two KKK groups for a decade. Moore revealed that the extent of white supremacist infiltration within law enforcement agencies was even more severe than the series had described, with Klan members working as officers at local, county, and state levels.

The compelling documentary “Grand Knighthawk: Infiltrating the KKK” will be available for streaming exclusively on Hulu starting this Thursday.