JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A former Grand Dragon of the KKK and self-proclaimed neo-Nazi with the White Nationalist Movement is apologizing to students and staff at the University of North Florida as well as "Jacksonville as a whole."
UNF suspended Ken Parker in November after he posted a threatening photograph holding guns and displaying swastika tattoos on social media. Now, in an exclusive on-camera interview with First Coast News, he says he's had a change of heart.
Parker now attends a different local institution where he soon hopes to graduate. He hopes to leave a different reputation behind there and fix the one he created over the past few years.
In our interview, Parker had his Bible open on the table. He opens it up to read one of the verses.
"It's how Jesus lived his life, in Matthew 22" Parker said. "Jesus said unto him, thou shall love the Lord with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, this is the first and greatest commandment, and the second like unto it, thou shall love thy neighbor as thy self."
Parker says his change is a permanent one.
"I’ve been basically single-handedly spreading hate and discontent, handing flyers out, showing up to demonstrations and Jesus wouldn’t do that," he said.
The former white nationalist says he’s happy now and he’s okay if the public is skeptical, since they once knew him as a person filled with hatred, especially since he used to use the Bible to justify bigotry and racism.
"My relationship is between me and God, so they can believe it or not. All I can do is try to live my life in a Christian manner."
Parker recently resigned from the National Socialist Movement, writing in part, "Comrades, I hereby submit my official resignation to the NSM and the Movement as a whole. I have gotten back into my Christian faith, and I am convinced that what I have been committed to for the last several years is hurting my walk with God ... I can't keep on living this life."
"I want to publicly apologize," he said.
He now attends All Saints Holiness Church on Jacksonville's Southside.
"They treat everybody there with love," he said.
He says his drastic transition started with an interview about six months ago.
"A female Muslim documentary journalist from the UK, she was very nice, that was the first time I ever interacted with a Muslim."
That was step one for Parker. Step two was William R. McKinnon III. That is the pastor Parker says never gave up on him.
"I was hanging out down by the pool and there is a black pastor who lived here, he invited us to go to church with him. He showed us nothing but love. So me and my fiancé started going to church."
Step three for Parker was being welcomed into the church doors with open arms.
"I’ve been living this life for over six years, it takes a lot to just keep living like that every single day, you go out in public and people recognize you," Parker said. "It’s just not fun, you might convince yourself it’s fun for a little while but it just takes too much time and energy to live like that."
Members of the congregation tell First Coast News that Parker has been attending service there nearly every Sunday since a few weeks before Easter. They say he sits in the front row, is active, and they’re happy he’s there. He's already attended events outside of service on Sunday.
UNF President John Delaney is also commenting on Parker's radical transition.
“This county is great about redemption and so it is good to hear he turned a corner. He was filled with too much hate and maybe there is a decent person in there," Delaney said.