The Pittsburgh Press (June 22, 1946)
FBI reports plot on Arnall’s life
Georgia governor threatened by Klan
ATLANTA, Georgia (UP) – Gov. Ellis Arnall, who is devoting his last months in office to a personal battle against the Ku Klux Klan, disclosed today that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had warned him of a Klan plot against his life.
Mr. Arnall said the plot was hatched in an Atlanta Klavern which had been previously identified as a strong-arm branch of the hooded order.
Mr. Arnall said the alleged plan called for the names of five Klansmen to be drawn by lot from each Klavern, then a high official was to secretly draw the names of the two men to carry out the plot.
“The FBI advised me that these two, unknown to each other and to anyone else except the grand dragon, are to be given the job of taking care of me,” he said.
Mr. Arnall did not say how far along the plan had progressed, whether it had been discarded or if the FBI had nipped it in the bud. He tended to laugh it off as “silly,” the same as he has the numerous threatening letters he has received.
Gov. Arnall also took occasion today to emphatically deny that he is or ever was a member of the Klan. He accused the KKK of resorting to blackmail in a reported affidavit attesting that he had been given a membership card for $50.