Family say they cannot forgive KKK leader turned PRIEST who burned a cross on their yard 40 years ago but now wants to make amends

  • The Reverend William Aithceson was formerly a member of the Ku Klux Klan
  • He burned a cross in the yard of Phillip and Barbara Butler in 1977
  • Aitcheson has, 40 years later, written the Butlers an apology. They do not accept
  • The Butlers said they believe his motivation for writing the letter was that a parishioner had uncovered details of his past racist activity
  • Aitcheson penned a letter, 'Moving from hate to love with God’s grace,' this past summer 

By Associated Press and Dailymail.com Reporter

Published: 13:17 EST, 9 December 2017 | Updated: 22:19 EST, 9 December 2017

A former Ku Klux Klan member who burned a cross on a black couple's lawn 40 years ago, before becoming a Roman Catholic priest, has finally written his victims an apology.

The Reverend William Aitcheson told Phillip and Barbara Butler he was 'blinded by hate and ignorance' when he targeted them in 1977 at their home in College Park, Maryland.

The Washington Post reports that in a letter dated September 8, Aitcheson wrote he rejected those beliefs before he joined the priesthood, but was too ashamed to face the Butlers.

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Barbara and Phillip Butler were victimized in 1977 by William Aitcheson, a Ku Klux Klan member who burned a cross on their lawn

Barbara and Phillip Butler were victimized in 1977 by William Aitcheson, a Ku Klux Klan member who burned a cross on their lawn

Aitcheson later went on to become a Roman Catholic priest. He has, 40 years later, penned an apology for the Butlers. They have not accepted

Aitcheson later went on to become a Roman Catholic priest. He has, 40 years later, penned an apology for the Butlers. They have not accepted

'I believe now that all people can live together in peace regardless of race,' he wrote in the letter.

'I also know that the symbol of the most enduring love the world has ever known must never be used as a weapon of terror. Its use against you was a despicable act. I seriously regret the suffering it caused you.'

The Butlers said they are not sure what Aitcheson could do to earn their forgiveness.

'This is going to take some time,' Barbara Butler said after a news conference Friday.

'For you to come into my life, 40 years, and say I'm sorry. I will pray on it. That's the only thing I can do.'

The Butlers also discussed Aitcheson's motivation for writing the letter.

They said that he only did so because a parishioner had uncovered facts of his sordid past.

Aitcheson was sentenced in 1977 to 90 days in jail due to his involvement with the KKK, which itself apparently deemed him 'too radical and violent'. 

As a leader of the 'Klan Beret,' he allegedly plotted to blow up an NAACP branch and a power plant.

Then-president Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan visited the Butlers at their Maryland home after they won a class-action lawsuit against Aitcheson in 1982

Then-president Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan visited the Butlers at their Maryland home after they won a class-action lawsuit against Aitcheson in 1982

The Butlers and the Reagans are pictured together. 'For you to come into my life, 40 years, and say I'm sorry. I will pray on it. That's the only thing I can do,' Barbara Butler said of Aitcheson's apology

The Butlers and the Reagans are pictured together. 'For you to come into my life, 40 years, and say I'm sorry. I will pray on it. That's the only thing I can do,' Barbara Butler said of Aitcheson's apology

In a class-action lawsuit filed against him in 1982, he was ordered to pay the Butlers $23,000 and $1,500 to both the Beth Torah Congregation and B'nai B'rith Foundation of College Park.

President Ronald Reagan visited with the Butlers after they won the lawsuit.

'It’s been a long hard battle out here. We know by your coming that everything has changed,' Barbara Butler said at the time, per the Washington Post.

The Butlers and their attorney also spoke about the recent payment to the Butlers of $23,000 from an overdue judgment in the lawsuit, along with $9,600 in attorney fees.

In a statement, the Catholic Diocese of Arlington said Aitcheson used his private funds and a personal loan to make the payment.

He was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1988 in Nevada at the age of 33. 

A spokesman for the Reno diocese said that the church 'understood at least part of his background' when they hired him and that he had 'no record of their thought process'.

Aitcheson wrote in a recent essay that the violence at the deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville in August made him think about his actions with the Ku Klux Klan.

He has expressed sorrow that he had not come to the family sooner.

'You deserved an apology, but I did not demonstrate the strength needed to face you,' he wrote in a letter to the Butlers.

Aitcheson was a priest at St. Leo the Great church in Fairfax City for four years before recently stepping down.

'As this matter involving the Butler family and Father Aitcheson has only been resolved recently, plans for his future priestly ministry are still being discerned,' the diocese said in a statement Friday. 

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