Wesley A. Swift


Wesley A. Swift was a former Methodist minister from Southern California who is most famous for his racist views. In the 1940s, Swift started his own church, later known as the Church of Jesus Christ Christian. The church's website now states that "Wesley Swift is considered the single most significant figure in the early years of the Christian Identity movement in the United States." He is also responsible for the formation of the Antelope Valley chapter of the Ku Klux Klan and is associated with the militant Christian group the California Rangers. He has been denounced for his views by members of the left and right both, including condemnation from Robert W. Welch Jr. of the John Birch Society. Swift died in a Mexican clinic on October 8, 1970, apparently from a heart attack.