If this book forces a new dialogue about terrorism and fosters a deeper understanding of the nature of religious violence in American history, as I hope it will, it does so only because of the help of many people. The first iteration of my thesis was explored in a cowritten book, The Awful Grace of God: Religious Terrorism, White Supremacy, and the Unsolved Murder of Martin Luther King Jr., in 2012. The more developed argument in America’s Secret Jihad would not have been possible without the insights of my Awful Grace of God coauthor, Larry Hancock. Publisher Charlie Winton and the staff at Counterpoint have shown great patience and enthusiasm for my research, despite the controversial nature of the thesis. A very special thanks must go to developmental editor Eric Brandt for his input and care in preparing the manuscript. I am grateful to my students,—April Nicklaus, Swetha Subramaniam, Rithesh Neelamagam and Niranjan Shankar—for helping with the editing process. Jerry Mitchell, an award-winning investigative reporter for the Jackson (Mississippi) Clarion-Ledger, has been an inspiration and a resource for my investigation of civil rights cold cases. Charles Faulkner provided important information for my work on the King assassination. Researcher Ernie Lazar donated a treasure trove of FBI and other material—a lifetime of work—which is now available to researchers and historians for free in a fully text-searchable format online; the late Harold Weisberg did the same through the archives at Hood College; programmer and historian Rex Bradford did the same (albeit through a paid service) for The Mary Ferrell Foundation. This material, coupled with documents available at the National Archives and Research Administration in Maryland, whose staff is always helpful, was fundamental to my research. The FBI’s Freedom of Information Act staff was likewise very helpful and responsive to my requests for new documents. Several witnesses, among them Donald Nissen, Scott Shepherd, Bob Eddy, and former Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley, also provided key insights for a number of chapters. Finally, my family and friends—my parents especially—have done nothing but encourage my efforts, on this and everything else I do. This book is dedicated to them.