Johnny Lee Clary (June 18, 1959 – October 21, 2014) was an American former professional wrestler, white supremacist, and later preacher. Clary served as a

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

leader before he became a

Pentecostal Christian Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

, traveling around the world preaching the gospel and teaching against racism and

hate groups A hate group is a social group that advocates and practices hatred, hostility, or violence towards members of a race, ethnicity, nation, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other designated sector of society. Accord ...

such as the Ku Klux Klan,

neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...

s, and the

Aryan Nations Aryan Nations is a North American antisemitic, neo-Nazi, white supremacist organization that was originally based in Kootenai County, Idaho, about miles (4.4 km) north of the city of Hayden Lake. Richard Girnt Butler founded the group i ...

. Clary, under the stage name Johnny Angel, also wrestled in the

National Wrestling Federation The original National Wrestling Federation (NWF) was a professional wrestling promotion based in Buffalo, New York and owned by promoter Pedro Martínez. It ran from 1970 to 1974. The promotion was then revived in 1986 by Robert Raskin. The revive ...

(NWF) during the 1980s.

Early life

Johnny Lee Clary was born on June 18, 1959, in

Martinez, California Martinez (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Martínez'') is a city and the county seat of Contra Costa County, California, United States, in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Located on the southern shore of the Carquinez Strait, t ...

. He was reportedly raised in a racist home, where his father encouraged racist language and abusive treatment of blacksFormer KKK Grand Wizard finds new path
by Frank Wallis. and saw to it that Clary attended an all-white church.
, melaniehemry.com; accessed October 28, 2014. Although Clary's father, a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, was not a Klansman, Clary claimed that his paternal uncle, Harold, was a member and that Harold boasted to Clary's father of shooting an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

man. Johnny's father sent his son on the Sunday school bus every week to the First Baptist Church. According to interviews Clary had given, his youth was marred by a violent and tragic family life and also by a lack of stability. At the age of 11, he watched his father kill himself and was subsequently shunted from one family member's home to another's. Eventually he found himself alone in

East Los Angeles, California East Los Angeles ( es, Este de Los Ángeles), or East L.A., is an unincorporated area in Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census it had a population of 118,786, a drop of 6.1% from 2010 United States Cen ...

, where he became involved in gangs and joined the Ku Klux Klan by the time he was 14.

Professional wrestling career

In 1983, Johnny became a

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

and was trained (along with his brother Terry Clary) by former NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion,

Danny Hodge Daniel Allen Hodge (May 13, 1932 – December 24, 2020) was an American professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and boxer. He is renowned primarily for his wrestling career, where he competed both as an amateur and professional. A three-time NCA ...

. Terry began his career under the name Sugar Boy, with Johnny as his manager under the name ''Der Kommisar'' after a 1980s new wave song of that name. Terry is best known for almost holding the NWA World Jr. Heavyweight Title for a very brief period. The storyline had Terry defeat then-champion Danny Hodge after Johnny (portraying a

heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower Human leg, leg. Structure To distribute the compressive for ...

managerial character) reached under the ropes during the match and tripped Hodge with a cane, and then had the decision reversed due to Johnny's "interference". Terry continued to wrestle, changing his name to Buddy "Bad Man" Savage. Johnny left wrestling management and began wrestling by himself, using the name Johnny Angel.

Racism and conversion to an anti-racism preacher

While he was wrestling, Clary continued his involvement in the KKK. According to his interviews with several media outlets, Clary became the

Grand Dragon Ku Klux Klan (KKK) nomenclature has evolved over the order's nearly 160 years of existence. The titles and designations were first laid out in the original Klan's prescripts of 1867 and 1868, then revamped with William J. Simmons's ''Kloran'' of 1 ...

of the

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

arm of the

White Knights Of The Ku Klux Klan The White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan is a Ku Klux Klan organization which is active in the United States. It originated in Mississippi and Louisiana in the early 1960s under the leadership of Samuel Bowers, its first Imperial Wizard. The White Kn ...

. Clary claims to have become increasingly disillusioned with the KKK even as he rose through its ranks. He mentions a first brush with

evangelical Christianity Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

in the mid-to-late 1980s but, he claims, he was scared into returning to the KKK and went on to become the

Imperial Wizard The Grand Wizard (later the Grand and Imperial Wizard simplified as the Imperial Wizard and eventually, the National Director) referred to the national leader of several different Ku Klux Klan organizations in the United States and abroad. The t ...

of the whole White Knights organization in 1989. During his leadership the White Knights did not garner much media attention for their activities, but Clary was an active spokesperson for the Klan, defending racism and violence against non-white peoples. In this role he appeared on syndicated talk shows including those hosted by

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', br ...

and

Morton Downey Sean Morton Downey (November 14, 1901 – October 25, 1985), also known as Morton Downey Sr., was an American singer and entertainer popular in the United States in the first half of the 20th century, enjoying his greatest success in the late 1 ...

.Former Klansman addresses his past
lincolntimesnews.com; accessed October 28, 2014. In interviews Clary asserts that he left the KKK for good in 1990 and joined an evangelical church. This time he stayed with the church and in 1991 he began preaching. He teamed up with

Wade Watts Wade Watts (23 September 1919 – 13 December 1998) was an American gospel preacher and civil rights activist from Oklahoma. He served as the state president of the Oklahoma chapter of the NAACP for sixteen years,The GOP's Great Black Hope ...

, a preacher and former leader of the Oklahoma chapter of the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. ...

(NAACP) with whom he had previously sparred on numerous occasions during his time in the KKK."Not a chance encounter, but a divine appointment"
by Dana Williamson, johnnyleeclary.com; accessed October 28, 2014. The story of Clary's conversion from a Klansman to an anti-racism preacher has drawn the attention of numerous Christian media outlets and several national

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n talk shows. He appeared on talk shows such as ''

Donahue Donahue is the Americanized version of Irish surname Donohoe, which, in turn, is an Anglicized version of the ancient Irish name "Donnchadh" (sometimes "Donncha"). Donncha was a common “first name” in 9th Century Ireland, and when the use of ...

'', and '' Geraldo'', discussing racial issues in the U.S. Clary was an ordained minister under World Evangelism Fellowship and

Church Of God In Christ The Church of God in Christ (COGIC) is a Holiness–Pentecostal Christian denomination, and the largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States. Although an international and multi-ethnic religious organization, it has a predominantly Bl ...

and lived in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties i ...

. channel; accessed October 28, 2014. In 2009, he joined

Jimmy Swaggart Jimmy Lee Swaggart (; born March 15, 1935) is an American Pentecostalism, Pentecostal televangelism, televangelist, southern gospel, gospel music recording artist, pianist, and Christian author. His television ministry, which began in 1971, an ...

Ministries' Family Worship Center, where his wife is employed and began to preach and teach part-time there. He had been an active member there appearing on their Christian Network

Sonlife Broadcasting Network Jimmy Lee Swaggart (; born March 15, 1935) is an American Pentecostal televangelist, gospel music recording artist, pianist, and Christian author. His television ministry, which began in 1971, and was originally known as the “Camp Meeting Ho ...

on occasion.

Death

At his home in

, Clary suddenly died of a massive

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

on October 21, 2014.Johnny Angel hated — and was hated — before he preached love
slam.canoe.ca; October 21, 2014; accessed October 28, 2014.

References

External links