He tells Flip he has to take a lie detector test to make sure he is not Jewish. In one particularly tense scene, Felix locks Flip in a den with him in his basement. He first accuses him of being a cop, and repeatedly presses him to prove he is not Jewish. Flip’s identity creates significant tension as he stands in for Stallworth during meetings with the Klan.įelix, the second-in-command in the local Klan chapter in the movie, is wary of Flip from the moment they meet. Here’s where the movie and reality begin to diverge. In the movie, however, Chuck is called Flip, played by Adam Driver, and has a much bigger role. He ended up being joined by another officer when the Klan insisted members bring recruits. So the bulk of the investigation took place over the phone. Stallworth has declined to disclose his name in both his memoir and interviews with the media.Ĭhuck’s availability was limited "because of both his narcotic workload and department politics," Stallworth writes. His whiteness was implied.Ĭhuck worked in the narcotics division. I have dark hair and a beard," Stallworth said. Stallworth described what he would look like with his colleague, Chuck, in mind: "I’m about five foot nine, 180 pounds. Kenneth O’Dell, the local chapter leader and a soldier stationed at Fort Carson, proposed a meeting. Stallworth got a call back within two weeks, in November 1978. (Photo by Dave Rains, courtesy of the Colorado Springs Gazette.) Kenneth O’Dell and Josef Stewart, the first and second in command of the Colorado Springs chapter of the Ku Klux Klan, during a Dec. "They tried to disguise their accent, but even after 200 years of education by the white race, they can’t do it," he said, according to Johnson’s reporting.Īpparently, their radar was not that sharp. The chapter leader, remaining anonymous, told Johnson the response had been "super fantastic," although many of the phone calls had come from black people who were worried about the Klan’s resurgence. The ads began running in June 1978, according to reporting in the Colorado Springs Sun by Nancy Johnson. 15, 1978, read, "Ku Klux Klan is forming. We found a couple of classified Ku Klux Klan ads in the Gazette-Tribune tucked between ads for dating services from that time period. He also mistakenly gave away his real name in the note. Stallworth didn’t call, but expressed his interest to the Klan in a letter addressed to the post office box listed in a classified ad, according to his memoir. In real life, time passed a little slower. Before the length of the message lapses, the phone rings. He leaves a detailed message with his real name. The movie kicks into gear when Ron, played by John David Washington, calls the number on a classified ad placed by the Ku Klux Klan in the Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph. In reality: Stallworth’s sidekick was not Jewish. In the movie: Flip’s Jewish identity almost compromised the operation. To fact-check the movie, we relied on his account to verify the conversations between officers and the Klansmen as well as newspaper coverage at the time. The decorated 32-year law enforcement veteran wrote it using the investigation casebook he was ordered to destroy (but didn’t) by his sergeant in 1979. It’s adapted from Stallworth’s memoir, which he published in 2014. But how much of it is based on real events? The movie is laced with expletives and explosives. The detective, Ron Stallworth, strikes up a phone friendship with the local chapter of the Klan and with David Duke himself to discover and thwart cross burnings and a bombing. "Dis joint is based on some fo’ real, fo’ real s-," the title card to BlacKkKlansman reads.īlacKkKlansman, Spike Lee’s latest film, tells the tale of a black detective in the Colorado Springs Police Department who infiltrates the Ku Klux Klan between 19. ) Warning, major spoilers and plot points ahead!) (We've also fact-checked The Post, Darkest Hour and Dunkirk. Everyone from Cannes to Twitter seems to be talking about BlacKkKlansman, so we wanted to help you sort out the facts from the dramatic liberties. Editor's note: Have you ever wondered if the movie you just saw - that claimed to be based on a real story or historical events - was really accurate? So have we.
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