San Diego
Former police reserve officer Doug Seymour never asked to be relieved of his assignment of infiltrating the Ku Klux Klan, his superior officer testified Thursday.
Sgt. Ernie Trumper denied contentions by Seymour that he begged Trumper to let him out of infiltrating the Klan and the 1980 congressional campaign of former KKK Grand Dragon Tom Metzger.
The testimony came in Seymour’s lawsuit against Trumper, San Diego Police Chief Bill Kolender and four other officers.
“I told him many times he was spending too much time with the Klan,” Trumper testified. “He was very enthusiastic. He loved it. He loved to get an undercover assignment.”
He agreed with Seymour’s attorney that Seymour was “a wreck” during part of the undercover assignment.
Trumper said he did not want Seymour to be Metzger’s bodyguard or his chauffeur. He said he wanted Seymour to attend Klan meetings to find out about any violent plans.
Seymour told him that the Klan put him on trial and pointed guns at his head when they suspected he was an informer, Trumper testified. He said he told Seymour then to stop his undercover assignment because it was too dangerous.
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