Dallas Morning News
Wednesday, February 21, 1990 (20A)

Air Force discharges 4 over Klan issue

By Selwyn Crawford
Fort Worth Bureau of the Dallas Morning News

FORT WORTH -- The administrative discharges of four Carswell
Air Force Base servicemen allegedly involved in the Ku Klux
Klan became final Tuesday, and the discharge for a fifth
airman will be completed by the end of the week, officials
said.

All of the discharges will be listed officially as general and
the officers will maintain full military benefits, Capt.
Barbara Carr, Carswell spokeswoman, said Tuesday. The men will
be prohibited, however, from re-enlisting in any other branch
of the military, she said.

Capt. Carr refused to identify the four airmen, citing the
federal Privacy Act. The fifth is Sgt. Timothy Hall, who
initially appealed his dismissal but withdrew that on Tuesday.
Sgt. Hall's name is known because he was at the center of a
Tarrant Country Sheriff's Department internal affairs
investigation into Klan involvement by deputies.

It was that investigation that led to the Klan inquiry at
Carswell, which triggered Tuesday's Air Force dismissals.

Sgt. Hall, a reserve deputy, was fired earlier this month by
Tarrant County Sheriff Don Carpenter. Full-time deputies David
White and Kay Moore, who were also fired, are appealing their
dismissals though the county's civil service process.

Houston attorney Kirk Lyons said Tuesday that he is
representing Sgt. Hall and two of the other airmen and that he
will file suit in federal court to have them reinstated. He
would not identify the other two men, but he said all three
would attend a Wednesday afternoon news conference at
Carswell.

"This is basically a First Amendment problem," Mr. Lyons said.
"There are several other issues but that's the main one. None
of these men have done anything wrong."

Mr. Lyons is director of The Patriots Defense Foundation,
which represents clients with right-wing beliefs. He blasted
former Deputy White for his allegations that Sgt. Hall, a Klan
recruiter, pressured him into joining the group.

"He's saying a lot of things about Sgt. Hall which are frankly
untrue," Mr. Lyons said. "It shoes a sincere lack of veracity
and honesty if he thinks he can crawl back into the Sheriff's
Department on his belly, he's mistaken. But that's his
decision."

The servicemen could not be reached for comment.

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