are an American hate group and terrorist organization primarily based in the American South, though there have been allegations by government officials that they are clandestinely supported by foreign organizations and rogue governments. Claiming to represent the true interests of Southerners, the Knights are virulently anti-American in nature, with members reportedly referring to the South as the "Confederate States". Furthermore, when said members manage to be taken alive by Federal officials, they refuse to comply during interrogations, only stating their rank and "commando unit" and referring to themselves as "Sovereign Citizens", showcasing their steadfast belief in the "Lost Cause" myth of Confederate defeat. Based off of official communiques sent prior to and after their attacks, as well as reports by the Pinkerton Investigation Agency, Federal investigators have determined that the Knights claim descent from the historical Southern nationalist and anti-American groups such as the
Ku Klux Klan and the
Black Legion, with the stated goal of reestablishing Southern independence through violent means.
While the numbers of the Knights of the South are currently unknown, further investigation has revealed that they were formed from the merger of a number of Southern nationalist and anti-American groups, including the
Tejano Liberation Front, the
Friends of Free Cuba, and the
Children of the Confederacy. This would seemingly explain the rather diverse ethnic makeup of the group, which contains white Southerners as well as a number of Tejanos, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans of Confederate descent. With the exception of their Hispanic members, who are considered equals thanks to their Confederate descent and perceived racial purity, the Knights are primarily Protestant. Despite this, they aren't particularly anti-Catholic in nature, with their hatred primarily reserved for African-Americans, Federal officials, Biracial individuals (who they derogatorily refer to as "Miscegenists"), and Southerners who refuse to take up arms against the Federal government.
During the ongoing Dixie Autumn, which began in 1970 with the Rawweather Incident, the Knights have committed a number of high-profile terrorist incidents, including:
- The 1970 assassination of Christian Rawweather, Head of the Truth and Reconciliation Agency (TRA), along with his chauffeur and Federal bodyguards, by the "Black Knight Commando". Rawweather was killed for his harsh measures against Southern businesses who refused to pay Black employees their full wages.
- The 1972 kidnapping and murder of Perley A. Thomas Jr., head of the Perley A. Thomas Car Works, and his family by the "Grey Ghost Commando". The family was targeted merely because the Car Works "collaborated" with the Federal government by providing TRA officials with cars for transportation.
- The 1974 failed kidnapping-turned-murder of George Ponto, director of the Richmond Federal Bank by the "War Horse Commando".
- The 1975 American Embassy Massacre in Havana, Cuba by the "Stonewall Commando", an attempted siege undertaken in order to force the release of several imprisoned and captured Knights of the South members.
- The 1977 assassination of newly-appointed Federal Governor Jesse Jackson and the crippling of Lieutenant Governor Walter Fauntroy by the "Forrest Commando", the first of a series of violent and increasingly-brutal attacks against African-Americans in the American South continuing until 1980.
- The 1981 assassination of Secretary of State Alexander Haig and his bodyguards by the "Marse Lee Commando", done in response to the promise of increased crackdown against Southern terrorism by incumbent-President Jimmy Carter, who they decried as a race traitor and arch-collaborator.
