at a court hearing in 1977, a fire marshal who infiltrated atchison's ku klux klan group said atchison was unstable and extremely dangerous and that he was planning, quote, guerrilla warfare against blacks. making bombs. >> he had said he was coming back to put our pipe bomb at our door. so he was -- he was a mean burn. he was a mean burn. >> as for father atchison, he is still refusing to speak publicly and has stepped down from his duties at saint leo the great church in fairfax. the church has said they will work with the priest to help him repay the butlers the $23,000 he was ordered to pay them decades ago. the butlers say they will ask the kucourt the order him to pa it back with interest. >>> and the more disturbing it gets. mark, thank you. >>> now to breaking news in charlottesville where there is a dispute over the tarp just 34r5ised over t ed placed over the statue of robert e. lee. our producers in our newsroom tell us an older man approached the monument there, confronted a group there and argued why the the city council decided to cover to honor heather heyer who was kill

his name is william atchison. he admits he was responsible for burning a cross on the front lawn of a newlywed couple. that cross burning drew national attention, so much so that president reagan and first lady nancy reagan even paid a visit to the home of phillip and barbara butler in college park. barbara has some questions for the priest. >> you you went into the priesthood did, you tellthen what you had done and ask for his forgiveness? >> here's what's new tonight. we uncovered court records from atchison's past. he was charged and ordered to pay fines in a trespassing case in reno, nevada, back in 1992. he had been handing out pro life pamphlets near a women's clinic. he was assigned to the reno and las vegas diocese at the time. during court hearings atchison testified about his trill past but -- criminal past but left out details about cross burnings and the kkk. atchison moved to arlington and the diocese there about a year later. >>> police found a missing man's body tuesday in nokesville. the 18-year-ol

father atchison hayes bes beaen priest since 1988, currently at saint leo the great. but in the late 1970s while at the university of maryland, the soon to be priest was the leader of a ku klux klan group and he was convicted of threatening to kill coretta scott king. fbi records also releague father atchison was charged in carroll county, maryland with having illegal explosives after pipe bombs and molotov cocktails were found at his home. he was also charged in prince george's county and howard county with cross burns. one of those was on the front lawn of barbara and phillip butler's home in college park. they say if the catholic priest is truly seeking forgiveness, h his kkk group who helped him to burn those crosses. >> as big as that cross was, he needed help to put that cross up on the ground. >> reporter: father atchison has offered to meet with the butlers, but the couple is reluctant. >> not too much to say to him because he was a ku klux klan. >> i will never ever forgive him. we didn't deserve this. >> now, the butlers are still owed $23,000 that the court

shortly after that-- father atchison "acknowledged his past and saw the opportunity to tell his story in the hopes that others would see the possibility of conversion." the couple he threatened, now speaking out as well. aitchenson would later be charged with several cross burnings, making with several cross burnings, making with several cross burnings, making bomb threats, and manufacturing pipe bombs. he served 90 days in jail. the butlers won 23 thousand dollars in damages, but aitcheson never paid. their attorney says they still want that compensation, and they want the priest to tell police who else was involved in the cross burning. the church says father aitchenson intends to fully cooperate with police. developing now.. complex in temple hills is now boarded up. and many residents are wondering what they'll do next. everyone was forced to leave yesterday, because of multiple fire code violations. residents were also forced out last october, when the company in charge of the complex failed to pay utilities. since then, the complex has spiraled into further decay, causing prince

father william atchison admitted he used to be a member of the kkk.the diocese of arlington is calling it sad and deeply troubling, as the priest voluntarily stepped down from public ministry. wusa9's michael quander has his plea for forgiveness. >> reporter: parishioners were just learning about it. >> i haven't heard about it. >> reporter: the confession that rocked st. leo the great catholic church in fairfax. a priest telling everyone he used to klux klan. >> that's not something i would expect either, but you just never know. >> reporter: he published an article, recounting memories of burning crosses, and sending threatening letters. that was 40 years ago. atchison says now, he is a changed man, and sorry for what he's done. begging for forgiveness. >> as a catholic, you're supposed to turn the other cheek, right? just like everything else. if somebody comes to me, asks for forgiveness, yeah, why not? >> what people did in the past doesn't necessarily count for what they do now. what they do now is what makes more difference. >> reporter: the di

father william atchison admitted to burning a cross in a couple's front yard decades ago and the victims want him to cough up names. michael quander explains it may be tough to find and charge everyone involved. >> you don't talk to ku klux klan. >> reporter: the butlers were shocked after learning the man who burned a cross in their front yard back in the 70s is now a priest and living just after 40 years, father william akerson came forward about his dark past with the kkk. he said he was sorry and willing to make -- and wanted to make things right but the victims want hum to do so much more and release the names of the people who helped him commit his crime. father akerson said in a statement that he would cooperate with police but we quickly found out it would likely be a struggle if the case were to reopen. we ran into issues today trying to find documentation or even where evidence was being stored. prince george's county prosecutors say it can be difficult to pull documents that old and even find evidence that's still in tact. it may be also hard finding witnesses and figuring out

it says atchison agrees with what you've heard and will cooperate fully with law enforcement. he's also open to a private meeting with the butler family to finally offer an apology for his crime. i now some development. >>> now some developments from charlottesville, christopher cantwell, the white supremist at the center of that vice news video posted to social media turned himself into police. there were warrants for his because of the violence following the protests. cantwell is in jail tonight in lynchburg, virginia. >>> a popular store at your local mall is getting trashed online. people have been tweeting and posting facebook messages about forever 21 carrying rings with swastika symbols in their stores. one person even claims the rings are sold at a specific location at a mall in nashville. so what's the deal here? is this true? before she shared it with her friends viewer pamela goings from silver spring reached out to our verify team for answers. >> my question is to verify is forever 21 selling swastika rings? i'd appreciate that. thanks. >> yeah. we got to find this

atchison said that he had. suppose you read these two again, brandeis suggested, and when he did atchison realized they had no bearing on the case at all. he began to apologize, but the justice dismissed the matter with one sentence. please remember that your function is to correct my errors, not to introduce errors of your own. brandeis also used his clerks as sounding boards and welcomed their arguments about his conclusions and rationales. in the end, however, they understood that no matter how much they believed in what they said the final decision would be in his hands. one of brandeis's most influential opinions is neither for the majority nor dissent, yet it has influenced judges for eight decades, and that is his concurring opinion in ashwander versus tennessee valley authority in 1936. in it, brandeis laid out seven rules which he said the court had developed over the years to govern which cases they took and how they decided those cases. in fact, it was brandeis far more than his brethren who came up

he has new details for us. >> that's right, the firestorm was started when father william atchison wrote an article for diocese of article link ton web be sight admitting to be a member of the kkk before he was a priest. and while he mentioned a cross burning and threatening letter in that article, it turns out his actions back in the 1970s went far beyond just being a member of the ku klux klan. today one of the couples he targeted spoke out about learning the man convicted of burning a cross on their front yard is now a priest. >> to have that much hate in your heart that you could do something like that you don't know he me. >> reporter: they spent the last 40 years trying to put the ugly memory behind them. todahe

forty years ago - before he was a priest, william atchison helped burn a cross - at the home of a couple in college park. they're speaking out about the ordeal back in 1977. aitchenson would later be charged with several cross burnings, making bomb threats, and manufacturing pipe bombs. he served 90 days in jail. the butlers w in damages, but aitcheson never paid. they still want that money- and to talk to aitchenson. earlier this week- he publicly admitted to his past in the k-k-k- and said he's stepping away from the church to reflect. it's and xx degrees. your morning commute just getting underway. eileen and angela foster join us next with what you need to expect before you head out the door. you're watching good morning washington, we'll be right back. fill your home with well-crafted oupieces at affordable prices. and through september 4th, enjoy free delivery. plus save $100 off every $1000 you spend. hurry in. summer is ending and so are these exceptional offers. with havertys, your home can be perfect, even when life isn't. mom, have you seen my iguana? come in today to save $10

father atchison took a leave of absence. while he's been with the arlington dioceses there's been absolutely no accusations of racism for bigotry against this priest. live in fairfax. "fox5 local news". >> time is 4:34 today the president will hold a political rally in arizona ashes a day after making a major announcement on the war in afghanistan. commander in chief is signing off to send another 4,000 troops to afghanistan he addressed nation and u.s. troops for the meyer army base in virginia last night. the war claimed more than 2,000 american lives and 16 years after the 911 terror attack there's still no end in sight. >> meanwhile dangerous conditions could shut down a temple hills condo complex for good. we told you before about major problems at the lynn hill condos. take a look what we found inside last night. today the fire department will shut the building down if fire code violations have not been fixed. there are currently about 100 people living there and most residents left after utilities were shot off after

atchison says now, he is a changed man, and sorry for what he's done. begging for forgiveness. >> as a catholic, you're supposed to turn the other cheek, right? just like everything else. if somebody comes to me, asks for forgiveness, yeah, why not? >> what people did in the past doesn't necessarily count for what they do now. what they do now is what makes more difference. >> reporter: the diocese say they all knew about father aitcheson's past when he came onboard in the '90s. a spokesperson says he's never had an accusation of racism against him while here in our area. when we called his former diocese in nerve da, nevada, they refused to answer other questions. >> certainly, something he's not probably proud of. >> reporter: father aitcheson wrote that images like these, resurfaced memories of his time with the kkk, sparking this public confession. >> as a catholic priest, you have to be open to your parishioners. >> i don't think they should be angry. i think they should know, then they can make their minds up. >> reporter: michael quander, wusa9.

atchison looked at him and said because you're not a very likable fellow. a lot of people don't like donald trump. and they're not going to be boosting his poll numbers up anytime soon. >> let's put that last one back up, the six-month approval. i want margaret to react to that. margaret, what do you think? he said a lot of people just don't like donald trump. what do you put that? >> donald trump didn't get elected because of likability. he got elected because of 78,000 voters in pennsylvania, michigan and wisconsin and what we know is that republicans even though they don't like the tweeting, they don't think the behavior in the oval office is presidential, they don't particularly like him as a person or think his demeanor is befitting of the presidency, still supported him in really large numbers. high 80s, 90% voted for him. now only 59% support him. that is a massive crack in his support. >> what is it? >> i told you last week. i told you in the lgbt transgender military officials came out in strong support from republicans against that ban and against

father william atchison admitted to burning a cross in a couple's front yard decades ago and the victims want him to cough up names. michael quander explains it may be tough to find and charge everyone involved. >> you don't talk to ku klux klan. >> reporter: the butlers were shocked after learning the man who burned a cross in their front yard back in the 70s is now a priest and living just

secretary of state atchison believed the united states should defend western europe, but the greatest threat would be from the soviet union. and defending west berlin. to conclude, during the 1952 presidential campaign, candidate dwight eisenhower deplored the truman administration for reneging on aid. according to eisenhower, it was due to unrest exploited. the truman administration had turned a good neighbor policy into a poor neighbor policy, he charged. eisenhower promised change. indeed change came, but not for the better, at least as perceived in latin america. the president and secretary of state did not have the same views as dean acheson. they ruled the u.s. could not abide by the nonintervention principle. when i first discovered this in the documents, it was already redacted. but if you look hard, you can find the drafted memorandums, the actual passage where the u.s. ruled it could not abide by the nonintervention principle. dulles also implicitly accepted george kennan's advice that in the name of anti-communism, the united states should ally with right-wing dictators lik

developments after a northern virginia priest admitted he used to be in the kkk 40 years ago before he was atchisoniam burned a cross at a family's home and now they're talking about the incident that happened. but u see it on television to have it in your yard is hatred. larry: he later would be charged with manufacturing pipe bombs and served 0 days in jail. the butlers won $23,000 in damages but he never >> you do know what you did. larry: they'd like to have the money and talk thomas well. and he admitted to his past and is stepping away from the church to reflect. autria: dozens of protesters gathered outside the nfl headquarters to show support for colin kaepernick. he refused to stand during the anthem in protest of police brutality targeting blacks. his supporters say he's being blackballed and he is a free agent and hasn't been signed. larry: a close call for a man on a paddle board. cleveland bigalow who is a lifelong surfer was on his board yesterday when a shark came up and bit it. bigalow suffered a leg injury from falling into the water. >> i count my blessings from god because when i

dean atchison, one of our great secretary of states, henry kissinger wrote this in his memoirs. he said a bluff if taken seriously can be helpful, a serious threat that is taken as a bluff can be catastrophic. those words are really important to make sure that we're not seen as bluffing. someone will call that bluff or we're doing something seriously but it's not taken seriously. that can all end in a catastrophe. we have to be clear and concise and precise in terms of what we intend to do and to send that message coupled with the economic and diplomatic messages. that's the way to get a result. >> shepard: secretary cohen, you said using the rhetoric and not following through as you put it, north korea threatens guam would be evidence of a bluff? are you suggesting this was a bluff and it's been proven to be so? >> if the president says if you threaten us again or our territories or our allies, it will be met with fire and fury. the north koreans issued another threat. what does that mean? does that mean we attack tomorrow or the next month or when ever? that would look as we'r

that's similar language used by dean atchison years before.o what we have now is, something has been taken as a bluff, when it may be serious. so we now have to walk it back and say if you take action, which threatens us or our allies, then you will have a response which will be quite devastating to your regime. and we start moving from the region of saying o we're not trying to have a regime change. we will start removing -- we tried to work with you. it's untenable. therefore, we're going to look at regime change at some point in time in the not too distant future. >> you talked about squeezing north korea. i know you used squeezing like a python. can you smexplain what you meany that? are you talking about passage of the sanctions that were passed by the security council on saturday? >> we've been imposing sanctions on an incremental basis, a little at a time. those sanctions have been evaded or eroded. we know there's a black market and a gray market. we know there are chinese firms dealing with the north koreans and the russians. and what

on january 12th of 1950, secretary of state deane atchison gave a speech at the national press club inch he drew the defensive perimeter line for america and the pacific. that line included japan and the philippines. it did not include the republic of korea. six months later, north korea with the backing ofstalin, invaded south korea. there are a lot of people who thought that speech indicated weakness and the korean war was laun launched. soi so i would suggest as we consider language -- >> young the president is projecting strength? not weakness? >> yes, you have to project strength. president kennedy, i think, realized himself he had made a mistake. >> and yet john -- so you're saying the president today is projecting strength. let me just play again what john mccain just said in a radio interview. he, obviously, sees this completely different than you do, jeffrey. let me put it in his words. >> i take exception to the president's comments, because you got to be sure that you can do what you say you're going to do. in other words, the old walk softly, but carry a big stick. >> glori

nicole atchison is going to speak to us today. academic,istinguished and she holds the alexander m. bracken professor of history in indiana. david letterman went to ball state. that was a joke. no, she's just a baby. youth, she's had a marvelous publishing career. she is the author of "the emerging midwest," "a generation and i think you would agree that "bleeding kansas" is your tour de force, a marvelous book on the civil war in kansas, where buffalo bills father was a to keep in kansas sleeve free. that is -- buffalo bill's father was a martyr to keep kansas sleeve fre -- keep kansas e free. thank you for that. paul and i have been talking about how i had met him when i was a young historian, and i am no longer a young historian. the stafft to thank here for the fabulous job they have done in coordinating this, state colleague from ball who has a habit of casually meandering into your office and saying, so, the next thing you know you are in cody, wyoming. doug is the reason i am here to give the perspective of buffalo bill's younger years before the wild west glory that you've b

nicole atchison is going to speak to us today. about buffalo bill's civil war. she is a distinguished academic, and she holds the alexander m. bracken professor of history in position in indiana. the university built by jars. ball jars are important in the history of america. david letterman went to ball state. was he one of your students? that was a joke. even as i said it, i realized i did not want to go down that road. no, she's just a baby. despite her youth, she's had a marvelous publishing career. she is the author of "the emerging midwest," "a generation at war," and i think you would agree that "bleeding kansas" is your tour de force, a marvelous book on the civil war in kansas, where buffalo bill's father was a martyr to keeping kansas slave-free. that is the books read. -- that is the book to read. [applause] >> i will thank paul for that introduction and say my son will love it because his favorite phrase is, "when you were young and dinosaurs roam to the earth." now it is when david letterman was my student. paul and i have been talking about how i h