Ku Klux Klan documentary reveals reviled racists are GROWING in strength

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The filmmaker spent seven months with KKK white supremacists
Saw huge cross being burned near Ferguson, scene of recent race riots
Also witnessed highly secretive swearing-in ceremonies for new members
Director Dan Vernon said: 'What we uncovered was truly shocking'

Published: 09:11 EST, 12 July 2015 | Updated: 07:20 EST, 13 July 2015

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Shocking images from a TV documentary have revealed that the Ku Klux Klan is very much alive and thriving in the U.S. - at a pivotal time for race-relations in the country.

Disturbing new images from the film show men and women in traditional Klan robes chanting around a fiery cross blazing in the night.

Children as young as 12 - not yet sworn in to the notorious white supremacy group - watch from their tents as the flames rise 30 feet and envelope the wooden cross.

Scroll down for video

Klansmen and Klanswomen from several states take part in a cross-lighting ritual in May this year in St Louis, Missouri - close to the city of Ferguson that was torn apart last year in race riots

A Klansman watches the cross burn. Children as young as 12 also witnessed the disturbing ceremony that took place just two months ago

Klu Klux Klan documentary trailer reveals group is thriving

Director Dan Vernon spent seven months with the men and women inside the modern-day organisation.

The documentary - being broadcast on Britain's Channel 4 tomorrow night - comes just one month after the Charleston church massacre, where nine black people were gunned down by suspected white supremacist Dylan Roof.

America is currently in the grip of racial turmoil - fueled by the Ferguson and Baltimore riots in August last year and April this year respectively. They were sparked by the deaths of young black men at the hands of police officers.

A woman is sworn into the Ku Klux Klan in a secretive 'Naturalization' ceremony on May 2

Standing alongside her are a 20-year-old woman and 19-year-old man who also officially join the KKK

Vernon spent time with the Traditionalist American Knights, who claim to be the fastest-growing Klan group in America. They are also the main Klan group operating near Ferguson.

Three of their members - one a prison officer - were arrested on April 2 and charged with conspiring to murder a black former inmate.

But unsettling scenes show how neither the Klan's notorious past - nor the present conspiracy to murder charges - are enough to stop an eager 20-year-old woman from joining the group just a month after the arrests.

After being 'naturalized' in a highly secretive recruitment ceremony, she said: 'I'm still in school and that I feel should be a priority, but I do plan on helping whenever and wherever I can.

'I've always agreed with the morals and the values that the Klan associates with ever since I was growing up. I didn't see a reason not to join.'

Klansmen in traditional robes. Members in black are 'Knighthawks' and responsible for security at gatherings

A Klansman flies a KKK flag at an annual Klan gathering made up of members from several US states

During filming of Inside The Ku Klux Klan, the crew witnessed a cross-lighting ceremony on farmland just outside St Louis, where the Ferguson riots took place.

Vernon also filmed Klan leader Frank Ancona promoting the use of 'lethal force' on Ferguson protesters to defend themselves.

The British director said: 'What we uncovered was truly shocking. Anyone who thinks that the Klan is a remnant of a bygone America will be disturbed to learn their numbers are growing.

'It is very unsettling to imagine that while America is taking steps to heal the injustices of its past, there are groups out there whose beliefs are likely to further inflame racial divisions, to their own gain.'

Inside The Ku Klux Klan will be shown in Britain at 10pm on Monday on Channel 4.