UPDATE: Anderson County Councilman Admits Past KKK Membership

UPDATED: 6:02 p.m., Oct. 16, 2012

WYFF reports that Anderson County Councilwoman Gracie Floyd said she's considering all her options, including legal action against Anderson County, after it became public that another council member used to have ties to the KKK.

Floyd told the TV station she believes she was targeted because of the color of her skin, not because of politics. She said she's been harassed and ignored by council members. She told the station after this deposition, she believes she now has a "case for racial discrimination."

"I have always felt a lot of pressure and a lot of aggression coming from this particular council member (Moore) to me," said Floyd. "Based on the way this man treated me, I'd say that maybe he still has some of those tendencies."

ORIGINAL REPORT

An Anderson County Councilman was a member of the Ku Klux Klan in his youth.

Councilman Eddie Moore's membership in the Ku Klux Klan was brought to light in a deposition filed with the court as part of Anderson County's lawsuit against former county administrator Joey Preston, the Anderson Independent Mail reports.

The county is seeking the return of $1.1 million in severance package payments awarded to Preston four years ago.

Preston's attorney Lane Davis asked Moore about his ties to the Klan during Moore's deposition in the Preston case.

The Independent Mail reports that Moore said he was affiliated with the KKK during his “early younger days … probably as a teenager.”

His affiliation lasted a couple of years, Moore said.

When asked directly if he had been a member of the Klan, Moore replied, “I was.”

The paper also reports that Moore said he had never attended any Klan ceremonies, including cross burnings.

During the deposition, Moore denied using a racial slur in reference to Preston's replacement Michael Cunningham.

Cunningham, who is black, served as Preston's replacement for several months before being fired by County Council.

A Republican, Moore represents County Council District 3, the Starr/Iva/Belton area.

The Anti-Defamtion League says the modern Ku Klux Klan is made up of about 40 different groups, with about 100 chapters, or klaverns, nationwide.

Membership in the KKK began rising again in 2006, after a lull, according to the ADL.

South Carolina is one of the states the ADL has identified as having notable or growing KKK chapters.