Cross-Burning Victims Confront Fairfax Priest Who Was KKK Member

ARLINGTON, VA — A Catholic priest in the Diocese of Arlington recently revealed his troubling past as a Ku Klux Klan member in an editorial published in the Arlington Catholic Herald Monday. In his editorial, the Rev. William Aitcheson, 62, admitted to burning a cross in the front yard of a black family's home in Maryland. Forty years later, the family spoke out about the incident at a news conference Wednesday.

Phillip and Barbara Butler lived in College Park in 1977 when they found a 6- or 7-foot-tall cross erected on their front lawn, WTOP reports. Now the couple wants the priest to name the other members of the hate group.

Aitcheson, who is currently an assistant to the pastor at St. Leo the Great in Fairfax City, asked for forgiveness in the editorial, saying his "actions were despicable."

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“I have to give that a lot of serious, serious thought, because you changed our lives a lot,” Barbara Butler said, according to WTOP. “I mean, we had just bought a house, just got married, and all of a sudden this happens.”

Ted Williams, the Butler's attorney, said the Butlers do not want to meet with Aitcheson unless he confesses the names of the other KKK members who participated in cross burnings.

The Catholic Diocese of Arlington released a statement on the Butler family press conference, saying: "The Butler family asked for the disclosure of names of any others who cooperated in the cross burning at their home. Fr. Aitcheson agrees to fully cooperate with law enforcement addressing details of this case that were not gathered previously."

>> See the WTOP post here.

The statement also said that Aitcheson was approached by a freelance reporter who said she learned that his legal name matched that of a man arrested in the 1970s.

"Fr. Aitcheson was approached about this, he acknowledged his past and saw the opportunity to tell his story in the hopes that others would see the possibility of conversion and repentance, especially given the context of what occurred in Charlottesville," the statement reads.

WTOP reports that the Butlers won a $23,000 civil judgment against Aitcheson years after the cross burning took place. President Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy, also spoke out against the hate crime years ago. The Butlers are still owed $23,000 in civil damages.

In an additional statement, the Diocese said its staffers are "coordinating with Father Aitcheson in his efforts to seek reconciliation and make restitution."

Aitcheson voluntarily asked to step away from his duties as a priest, according to the ministry.

"While 40 years have passed, I must say this: 'I’m sorry. To anyone who has been subjected to racism or bigotry, I am sorry. I have no excuse, but I hope you will forgive me,'" Aitcheson wrote in the editorial.

According to the church, there has been no accusations of racism or bigotry against Aitcheson throughout his time there.

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