Only a week into his job as the mayor of Marionville, a small town outside of Springfield, Dan Clevenger is already making national headlines.
But it's not his town or his elected position attracting a media scrum. It's his friendship with F. Glenn Miller, the KKK leader accused of shooting and killing three at Kansas City Jewish community centers.
See also: F. Glenn Miller, Accused Killer of Three at Kansas Jewish Centers, Has Deep Missouri Ties
Turns out, Clevenger commiserates with Miller's bizarre belief that Jews dominate America's political and economic institutions and use their powers for evil, and he's not afraid to talk about it.
"There some things that are going on in this country that are destroying us," Clevenger tells KSPR. "We've got a false economy and it's, some of those corporations are run by Jews because the names are there. The fact that the Federal Reserve prints up phony money and freely hands it out, I think that's completely wrong. The people that run the Federal Reserve, they're Jewish."
Clevenger traces Miller's hate back to Vietnam, where Miller served in the armed forces before joining the KKK.
"They pretty much force race relations on you," Clevenger tells KSPR.
Miller was a friend and occasional customer at Clevenger's auto repair shop, the mayor says.
"Used to bring his lawn equipment, or I would go out to his house and work on his tractor a couple of times," Clevenger tells CNN.
Ten years ago, when Miller wanted to advertise his racist propaganda in the Aurora Advertiser, Clevenger wrote a letter to the editor supporting Miller, KSPR reports.
"I am a friend of Frazier Miller helping to spread his warnings," wrote Clevenger. "The Jew-run medical industry has succeeded in destroying the United States' workforce.... Made a few Jews rich by killin' us off."
See also: Kansas Hate Crime Suspect Tells Howard Stern Why He Hates Jews, Loves Hitler So Much
After the shootings, Clevenger made an important distinction: He may agree with Miller's views, but he doesn't hate them or want to hurt them like Miller.
"He had a lot of hate built up inside of him," Clevenger tells CNN. "And every time he'd come down here, he'd go on about different races -- mainly Jews. He claims they're all bad, but I don't believe that."
Clevenger has his own theory about what drove Miller over the edge: that poor health made Miller decide to "go out, make the big show -- go out with a bang."
"He never said anything about it other than his poor health, and he knew he wasn't going to be living very much longer," Clevenger tells CNN. "That might have been something he was talking about. Something like this."
Follow Lindsay Toler on Twitter at @StLouisLindsay. E-mail the author at [email protected].
