KKK Leader Convicted for Trying to Blow Up Sheriff

A Ku Klux Klan leader from North Carolina has been convicted on weapons and explosive charges related to a plot to blow up his county sheriff. A jury convicted Charles Robert Barefoot Jr. of Benson on six felony counts this week, including conspiracy, possession of stolen guns, and receipt of explosives with intent to kill.

Prosecutors said the 49-year-old Klansman wanted to kill Johnston County Sheriff Steve Bizzell, whom he blamed for the failure of his nightclub, the Enchanted Barn. Barefoot also blamed Bizzell for the Klan not being permitted to march in the town's annual Mule Days parade. According to trial testimony, Barefoot acquired powerful explosives and planned to boat down the Neuse River at night to plant a bomb at the sheriff's office without being seen. (More Ku Klux Klan stories.)