Given that the Fullerton Police Department's murderous ways are getting mucho coverage this week due to the Kelly Thomas killing, let's turn our attention anew to the department's old days, when it featured many Kluckers among its ranks, Kluckers who were hell-bent on turning Fullerton into a refuge as wonderful as Klanaheim.
One of those KKKers was George Annin, a former Fullerton councilmember in the days when the governing body wasn't filled with Klan members but just regular ol' Mexican-haters. He only served one term, from 1914 to 1916, before returning to his job as a police officer. It's as an officer that, in 1926, Annin participated in a move for Klan power that, while successful in the short run, was one of the last gasps of the Invisible Empire's reign in Orange County.
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Two years after the Klan's failed war against Orange County District Attorney Alex P. Nelson, the Fullerton Klan–the most-powerful klavern in the area–tried to take control of its city's government and police department one final time. The Klan and its allies concocted a tale that Fullerton was a bootlegger's paradise, and that two officers (non-Klansman) and the city recorder were actively protecting said bootleggers. The KKK convinced the council to convene a special meeting in which they made their claims. Among those who testified was Annin, who claimed the record wasn't willing to grant search warrants to police officers, something that the city's chief of police disputed.
The council (which had two Klansmen among their ranks) agreed with the Klan's findings, fired the recorder, and tried to clean house at the police department. But the Klan's power play failed, a story we'll save for another time…oh, and while there is an Annin Avenue in Fullerton, it's named after George's non-Klan relatives, not the pendejo.
Tune in every Monday around 5 p.m. for the latest entry exposing Orange County city fathers who were Klan members!
Previous entries:
Harry E. Becker, Mayor of Brea
Francis Allen Kidder, Santa Ana Father and Son
Leslie C. Rogers, Santa Ana City Marshal
Earl Sechrist and Burton Young, Brea and Yorba Linda Ministers
Rollin Marsden and Roy Davis, Fullerton Councilmembers
William French, Fullerton's First Deputy Police Officer
Rudolph Kroener, Co-Owner of Former Gas Station that's Now Orange's Filling Station
William E. Fanning, Brea Schools Pioneer, Namesake of Fanning Elementary
Jesse L. Hunter, San Juan Capistrano Innkeeper, Owner of Mexican Restaurant
John A. Leuzinger, Brea Mayor, Founder of Brea Electric
Newton E. Wray, SanTana Rancher, Failed City Council Candidate
Samuel F. Hilgenfeld, Buena Park Minister, Founder of Anaheim's Hilgenfeld Mortuary
Elmer E. Heidt, OC's First Scout Executive for Orange County Boy Scouts Council
James W. Newell, Fullerton-area Miner/Mason
Garland C. Ross, Santa Ana dentist, batted against Walter Johnson
Ferris F. Kelley, San Juan Capistrano Postmaster
Clyde Fairbairn, Longtime Olive resident/nice guy
Charles McClure, Brea's first police chief
John F. Pieper, Tustin feed-store owner, councilmember
William Starbuck, Fullerton school trustee, druggist
Hoyt Corbit, Yorba Linda pioneer, fan of Richard Nixon
Lucien Proud, La Habra mayor/school trustee
Albert Hetebrink, Fullerton rancher
Henry W. Head, Orange County godfather
Dr. Roy S. Horton and Marshall Keeler, Santa Ana Unified trustees
Sam Jernigan and Jesse Elliott, Orange County sheriffs
Herman Hiltscher, Fullerton bureacrat
