The Imperial Klans of America, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (IKA) is a white supremacist, white nationalist, neo-Nazi paramilitary organization. Until the late 2000s, it was the second largest Klan group in the United States, and the largest at one point in the early 2000s. In 2008, the IKA was reported to have at least 23 chapters in 17 states, most of which were small. Since then, the IKA has been weakened by a $2.5 million judgment in 2008 against its leader, Ron Edwards, and several of its members for the beating of a 16-year-old teenager of Native American descent, followed by Edwards' conviction to a 4-year sentence on drug and gun charges in 2011. Although the IKA remains active in 2020, it had dwindled to only 2 chapters by 2012. The IKA is headquartered at a compound in Dawson Springs, Kentucky, which serves as a venue for the hate-rock gathering Nordic Fest. The group describes itself as the sixth era of the Ku Klux Klan, and as such argues that it has constitutional rights as part of the "Unorganized Militia" and that it stands upon Supreme Court decisions in favor of previous Klans. In 2011, a recurring hoax concerning the IKA endorsing Barack Obama was once again exposed as a farce based on a parody website's humorous reporting. In fact, in 2008, Ron Edwards was quoted as supporting John McCain, despite expressing strong dislike for him, as a means of preventing Obama from taking office. History Early history In the early 1990s, Ron Edwards was the head of a Kentucky-based klavern (local unit) of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. In July 1994, he joined the short-lived Federation of Klans after it broke away from the Knights of the KKK, which under the leadership of Thomas Robb had been seeking to improve the Klan's image by portraying it as a gentler organization. Led by former Robb follower Ed Novak, the splinter group died out in 1995. The following year, Edwards founded his own organization, the Imperial Klans of America (IKA) in Dawson Springs, Kentucky. In April 1998 Edwards' home was raided by federal agents as part of an investigation into an alleged plot to bomb a federal building, but the charges were eventually dropped. From 2000 onward, Edwards used his Dawson Springs compound to host a local Nordic Fest, an annual neo-Pagan music festival which helped the