On what seemed like a typical and rather slow news day in President Donald Trump's White House, Guardian journalist John Swaine pointed out an interesting historical factoid on Twitter-- that on Memorial Day of 1927, Trump's father was arrested at a KKK rally in Queens, NY.
As both Snopes and The Washington Post have noted, it's unclear whether or not Fred C. Trump, the president's father, was a member of the Klan. What is known, according to a New York Times article about clashes between the Klan and New York City's "Catholic" police force, was that Trump's father was arrested and released by police in relation to the march.
"Fred Trump of 175-24 Devonshire Road, Jamaica, was discharged," the 1927 article said, referring to the known address of Trump's father in the Jamaica neighborhood of Queens.
According to the Post, a flyer passed around the neighborhood ahead of the Klan rally described the need for the rally.
"The predication for the Klan to march, according to a flier passed around Jamaica beforehand, was that 'Native-born Protestant Americans' were being "assaulted by Roman Catholic police of New York City,'" Post reporter Philip Bump wrote in February 2016. "'Liberty and Democracy have been trampled upon,' it continued, 'when native-born Protestant Americans dare to organize to protect one flag, the American flag; one school, the public school; and one language, the English language.'"
When the reports of his father's arrest at the 1927 Klan march re-surfaced in 2015, Trump denied all claims that his father was involved.
"He was never arrested," Trump told the Daily Mail. "He has nothing to do with this."
