Senior officer at VFW post is an ex-KKK leader who doesn’t see a problem with ‘hunting’ black people

A VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) chapter in Wallingford, Connecticut, is standing by a member who headed a chapter of the Ku Klux Klan in the nineties.

The Record Journal reports that Michael A. Del Monaco, commander of VFW Post 591 on Prince Street, is only concerned with the work Scott A. Palmer, a former KKK member with a history of hate crimes against minorities, does for veterans.

“All I can do is commend him on what he’s done,” Del Monaco told the Record Journal. “Look at what he’s done for the VFW to help veterans.”

But Palmer's racist views aren't in his past. Recently, a U.S. commander (who chose to remain anonymous) contacted the Record Journal after he discovered a Facebook post by pseudonymous account—Klaus Palmer—in which Scott Palmer defended an Air Force reservist caught on video joking that they were "n**ger hunting."

“She spoke what was on her mind, given the circumstances,” the comment read. “All races do it. It’s what allowed tribes of people to survive and concur (sic). It applies today. Liberals have taken all the fun out of living.”

Prodded by the reporter about why Palmer declined to comment for the story, Del Monaco said that Palmer is going to therapy for "post traumatic stress disorder." He also said he believed talking to reporters would stall his recovery.

The Associated Press reports that in the 1990s Palmer was arrested for punching a man outside of a gay bar and screaming slurs at Hispanic people.