By Clint Confehr
COLUMBIA, TN — The district attorney prosecuting civil rights intimidation charges against a klansman and his 17-year-old accomplice says he doesn’t anticipate requesting a transfer of the juvenile’s case to circuit court where he’d be tried as an adult.
The prospect of District Attorney Brent Cooper petitioning Juvenile Court Judge Douglas Chapman to transfer the high schooler to circuit court was considered by Maury County community leaders last month. Some favor forgiveness and reform; others want him tried as an adult.
Daniel Walls, 38, of Santa Fe, an imperial wizard of the Ku Klux Klan in Tennessee, and a boy are charged with civil rights intimidation and vandalism at three historically Black churches in July. Last month, Walls waived his right to a preliminary hearing before General Sessions Court Judge Bobby Sands who sent the case to a grand jury that’s to decide whether there’s probable cause to proceed with prosecution of Walls in circuit court.
As for when the Maury County Grand Jury may consider charges against Walls, Cooper declined to be specific, citing secrecy of those deliberations. However, Cooper said it’s possible that Walls could be indicted by the end of the year, but that depends on when law enforcement officers are completely prepared to present their case.
On Oct. 12, Cooper was asked about the defendants who are being prosecuted for their alleged violation of Tennessee’s law against civil rights intimidation stemming from what Walls calls a “night ride” or “flyer drop” in the early morning hours of July 9. Old Glory Knights’ membership recruitment flyers warn “race traitors, mixed breeds, communist, homosexuals… the Klan is back…” In response, 130 people gathered July 13 in the Mt. Calvary M.B. Church Annex to unite against hate. Walls says he’s a separatist and doesn’t hate anyone. Asked if the juvenile should be tried as an adult, Walls replied for a published report saying the 17-year-old “had just as much in on it as I did” since the boy wanted to “do something” and selected the night ride’s route to four churches, businesses and residential areas as Walls drove a white Pontiac.
“I’m not surprised that Mr. Walls would try to deflect some of his responsibility on to a kid,” Cooper said. “That’s exactly what he did during the commission of the offense. That also goes along with the nature of a person who carries the beliefs that Mr. Walls has.”
Walls’ lawyer is with the Maury County Public Defender’s Office.
Cooper said, “It appears that Mr. Walls simply took advantage of a gullible youngster in the car by having the juvenile do the dirty work for him.”
Security video obtained by Columbia Police show: a white sedan stopping along North James Campbell Boulevard; an individual in short pants running from the car’s passenger door; and the pasting of a flyer to the side of a business. Walls says he was the driver.
“The juvenile has been fully cooperative,” Cooper said. “Our anticipation is that he will continue to do so throughout the prosecution of Mr. Walls.”
Asked if he anticipates filing a petition to the juvenile court asking that the boy be tried as an adult, the prosecutor replied, “Not at this time based on what I’ve been told about the juvenile’s participation in the crimes. It seems he was heavily influenced by the adult perpetrator. Also, after a thorough investigation, we haver found no indication that the juvenile had any history of white supremacy beliefs or actions.”
The juvenile’s 18th birthday is within three months.
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