When Portland banned blacks: Oregon’s shameful history as an ‘all-white’ state. Ahead, a rundown of Stallworth’s real story—as told by his memoir and a recent phone interview—and which parts of BlacKkKlansman were invented for dramatic effect. Stallworth responded to the ad with a short note: “I told them I was a white man who hated n——, spics, Chinks, Jews, Japs and anybody who wasn’t pure Aryan white like I was,” Stallworth recalled during a recent phone interview. David Duke: Like in the movie, Stallworth did incredibly strike up a relationship with Duke by phone. Because of Chuck’s other undercover assignments, he was not available often—so most of Stallworth’s investigation was conducted over the phone. chief.

When Duke expressed annoyance and tried to stop Stallworth from leaving with the photo, the detective reminded Duke that he could arrest him. During one conversation, Stallworth recalled, “I said, ‘Mr. The film kind of gave him a rebirth.”. Azure Functions Documentation, The photo session happened exactly as it does in the film—with Stallworth’s white proxy taking the photo. (Courtesy of Focus Features.)

In real life, Stallworth recruited an undercover narcotics officer named Chuck to play him. No cross burnings in 7½ months during this investigation. When Duke made a trip to Colorado Springs for a Klan rally, Stallworth was given an assignment he could not believe: His supervisor assigned him to guard Duke.

Topher Grace as David Duke in “BlacKkKlansman”. Your email address will not be published. robe, so “Ron” went without for the ceremony.) “I signed my real name, instead of my undercover name,” he said, “and mailed it off, thinking I would get a pamphlet, brochure or something.”. Meeting the Grand Wizard: David Duke’s visit to Colorado Springs coincided with “Ron’s” K.K.K. His victims celebrated.

After assaulting Ron, in spite of his yells that he is undercover, the police eventually arrest Connie. Duke’s visit to Colorado Springs was decked out in the movie. . Wrote Stallworth, “I believe he was fearful that if word got out that CSPD officers were sworn Klansmen he would have a PR disaster on his hands.”, Over the years, Stallworth said, “I thought about writing my story [as a book], but I didn’t, because I just didn’t feel like it.” When he sat down decades later, the detective said matter-of-factly, “When I finally put pen to paper, I just felt like doing it.”. Ron Stallworth, the real life "BlacKkKlansman," says he spoke with Duke over the phone recently about Lee's award-winning new movie. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 1/1/20) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 1/1/20) and Your California Privacy Rights. He even added to it, creating a sister who was dating a black man and saying “every time he puts his filthy black hands on her pure white body it makes me cringe.” That’s all it took for the O’Dell to take a liking to Stallworth’s character and request a meeting in person.

Directed by Spike Lee and produced by Jordan Peele, the film stars Adam Driver as the white Ron Stallworth and John David Washington, the son of Denzel Washington, playing black Ron Stallworth. Wrote Stallworth, “In a darkly funny way, we actually were having fun.”, Sergeant Trapp: Stallworth had ample support in his investigation from his supervisor, Sergeant Trapp, who would occasionally listen in on Stallworth’s calls with Duke. Stallworth believed the chief feared a PR nightmare if word got out. Four of them had ties to the Ku Klux Klan. “He was very much like Donald Trump in the sense he liked to be fawned over,” Stallworth said. Yes, but the encounter wasn't part of Stallworth's undercover work. to create some narrative tension in the film. point of contact and travel to a second location, which ended up being a dive bar.