The white supremacist father of bullied middle-schooler Keaton Jones threatened to slay him and his mother with an AK-47 in a chilling years-long stalking campaign, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.
Brave Keaton won hearts across the world after his mom Kimberly Jones posted a video to Facebook in which the 11-year-old tearfully shared his ordeal at the hands of middle school bullies who taunted him for being ‘ugly’ and having no friends.
Messages of support flooded in from celebrities including Rihanna, LeBron James and Dr Phil – until photos emerged on social media of Jones posing with a version of the Confederate flag and Keaton’s convict dad Shawn White showing off his white supremacist tattoos.
DailyMail.com can now reveal the truth about the youngster’s harrowing upbringing, and how hate-spewing neo-Nazi White, 37, bullied and terrorized his own son after splitting from Jones when Keaton was a toddler.
In one chilling incident, Keaton – born with a tumor behind his face that required years of corrective surgery – was indoors recovering from a five-hour operation when White tried to kick down the front door of Jones’ Knoxville, Tennessee, home.
White then hit his ex-partner in the mouth and warned her he was going to ‘kill her and everyone in her family, including the children’ with an AK-47 rifle, according to court documents obtained by DailyMail.com.
Keaton Jones’ white supremacist father Shawn White (pictured right) harassed the young boy and his mother Kimberly Jones in a years-long stalking campaign
Keaton’s story went viral after mom Kimberly Jones posted a video to Facebook in which the 11-year-old tearfully shared his ordeal at the hands of middle school bullies who taunted him for being ‘ugly’ and having no friends
Keaton’s father, a hate-spewing neo-Nazi, 37, bullied and terrorized his own son after splitting from Jones when Keaton was a toddler. He once burst through the family’s door in Knoxville, Tennessee, and threatened to shoot everyone with an AK-47
The frightening assault was one of numerous domestic incidents between Jones and her estranged lover that Keaton was frighteningly caught up in as a young boy.
At the same time, Keaton was also undergoing a grueling medical ordeal stemming from the life-threatening tumor that was removed from between his face and brain after his birth in February 2006.
The operation left him with a large scar and meant he had to undergo numerous follow-up procedures to improve his speech and breathing, his maternal grandfather, Roger Jones, 67, told DailyMail.com.
Jones said he only discovered Keaton was being picked on when he saw the now-viral video posted last Friday in which the brave 11-year-old demanded to know why bullies enjoyed hurting others.
He said his grandson should be viewed as a role model for other kids for overcoming his difficult childhood to become an articulate young honors student.
‘It’s tough to see any kid cry, especially your own grandson. But that boy is a fighter. He’s tougher that I ever was,’ Jones said in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com.
‘At 11 years old he has improved greatly. His speech is a lot better than it was. I’m proud to say he’s my grandson. There’s no way he’s going to let bullies stop him from being himself.’
Keaton’s maternal grandfather Roger Jones (pictured) told DailyMail.com that he was proud of Keaton. He said: ‘It’s tough to see any kid cry, especially your own grandson. But that boy is a fighter’
Keaton was born with a life-threatening tumor that was removed from between his face and brain after his birth in February 2006. Pictured: Keaton shooting a gun
The operation left him with a large scar and meant he had to undergo numerous follow-up procedures to improve his speech and breathing
Jones opened up his family photo album to DailyMail.com to reveal images of his grandson Keaton as an adorable little boy, playing alongside his sisters
Police records list White, Keaton’s father, as ‘armed and dangerous’ and a member of the Aryan Brotherhood – one of the most notorious white supremacist prison gangs in the US with an estimated 15,000 followers
Police records list White, also father to Keaton’s younger sister Mia, as ‘armed and dangerous’ and a member of the Aryan Brotherhood – one of the most notorious white supremacist prison gangs in the US with an estimated 15,000 followers.
The heavily-tattooed racist is currently incarcerated in the medium-security South Central Correctional Facility in Clifton, Tennessee for repeatedly violating probation.
White’s dormant Facebook account features several photos of him and Keaton, suggesting he did manage to meet his son in between his various spells in prison for an assortment of offences, from drug possession and aggravated assault to DUI and resisting arrest.
It also shows White wearing an ‘SS’ sweatshirt, showing off his ‘Pure Breed’ and ‘White Pride’ tattoos, and making white supremacist gang hand gestures.
Racist memes posted on his timeline say things like ‘Keep Calm and be White Pride’ and ‘Aryan Pride.’
White’s hate-spewing past was revealed just days after 42-year-old Kimberly Jones was at the center of her own racism storm when photos emerged online of her and her children posing with versions of the Confederate flag.
The mother-of-three broke down in tears in a subsequent TV interview as she described the pictures as a misguided attempt to be ‘ironic’ and ‘funny’.
But the revelation threatened to derail her son’s anti-bullying message which was endorsed online by numerous sports stars and celebs including Justin Bieber, Katy Perry and Captain America actor Chris Evans.
Her father, Roger Jones, denied that his daughter was a racist, telling DailyMail.com the Confederate flag was seen frequently in rural Tennessee and didn’t imply that she was a bigot like her shaven-haired ex.
White’s hate-spewing past was revealed just days after 42-year-old Kimberly Jones was at the center of her own racism storm when photos emerged online of her and her children posing with versions of the Confederate flag
In one image, White (right) and friends hold up a hand sign connected the Aryan Circle, one of the largest white supremacist gangs in US prisons
Offensive optics: The mother of bullied Tennessee tween Keaton Jones has been attacked after photos emerged of her (above) and her son posing with a version of the Confederate flag
A statement given to police by Diane Jones (pictured), who also took out her own protection order against White, says Lakyn, then aged eight, made the tearful 911 call begging for help
White’s dormant Facebook account features several photos of him and Keaton, suggesting he did manage to meet his son in between his various spells in prison for an assortment of offences, from drug possession and aggravated assault to DUI and resisting arrest. Pictured: Police report on White
He said: ‘At one time that flag was fine, it’s only in the last few years that things have changed,’ said Jones, a military veteran and former manager at a uniform shop.
‘I’m not a racist and I didn’t teach anyone to be racist. Anyone who knows me knows I wouldn’t be alright with that.
‘Kimberly is a good mother. She works, she ran a daycare, now she has a part time job at a department store. Keaton had been raised properly.’
Mr Jones opened up his family photo album to DailyMail.com to reveal images of Keaton as an adorable little boy, playing alongside Mia and their older sister Lakyn, 18, who has a different father.
‘He was born with the tumor. It was inside his head and down the side of his face. They took it out bit by bit,’ Jones recalled.
‘When he was young he couldn’t speak normally, he stuttered. They operated on his mouth and they opened up his nose to help him breathe.
‘I don’t know if he’s finished now or not but his last operation was when he was nine. He’s never complained the whole time.
‘Everyone has scars, it’s no big deal but kids is kids. He never told me they were bullying him, perhaps because he thought I would do something stupid.
‘He’s my grandson and I’ll protect him until the day I die. But you can’t retaliate, it’s the responsibility of the parents. The parents are always the first line of defense.’
Keaton’s grandfather said: ‘He was born with the tumor. It was inside his head and down the side of his face. They took it out bit by bit. When he was young he couldn’t speak normally, he stuttered. They operated on his mouth and they opened up his nose to help him breathe’
Mr Jones added: ‘He’s my grandson and I’ll protect him until the day I die. But you can’t retaliate, it’s the responsibility of the parents. The parents are always the first line of defense’
In the viral video, Keaton claimed that other students called him ugly, made fun of his nose and told him he had no friends. He went to describe through tears how they poured milk on him and shoved ham down his clothes. The school has confirmed it is investigating the allegations
‘Just out of curiosity, why do they bully?’ asked Keaton while looking directly at his mother’s camera phone. ‘What’s the point of it? Why do they find joy in taking innocent people and find a way to be mean to them? It’s not OK’
Mr Jones declined to talk about White, who is eligible for release in March 2018.
Court documents reveal Kimberly Jones first obtained an order of protection against White in June 2007 but he violated it by chasing her in his car and ramming her vehicle before threatening her with a gun.
He was jailed for 11 months but immediately after his release White turned up at the home Jones shares with her 67-year-old mother Diane to issue his chilling threat to shoot them with an AK-47.
A statement given to police by Diane Jones, who also took out her own protection order against White, says Lakyn, then aged eight, made the tearful 911 call begging for help.
It also reveals Keaton had only just got home after undergoing a five-hour surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville when the incident happened.
White fled when police arrived but was arrested and jailed for three years after pleading guilty to attempted aggravated burglary, stalking and assault.
In 2011 White further breached a protection order by phoning Jones hundreds of times and was jailed again for violating his probation.
Court documents say he also watched his two kids from his car and sent bomb threats to Diane Jones’ workplace in the years-long campaign of harassment.
White was eligible again for parole by 2014 but records show he was once more behind bars by 2015 for a probation violation and prison authorities have decided he should stay there until his sentence expires next March.
Keaton and his mother received backlash when photos emerged of her holding up a version of the Confederate flag and Keaton in a picture where another boy was holding up the flag
Kimberly Jones appeared on Good Morning America to address accusations that she and her family are racist. She said of the photos: ‘It was meant to be ironic and funny and extreme. I am genuinely truly sorry. If I could take it back, I would’
There were also claims that a PayPal account soliciting donations was launched by someone under Kimberly Jones’ name, but her daughter denied the claims
The little girl was born in May 2009, after the harassment started.
Kimberly Joneshas also set her Facebook page, where she posted the heart-rending video of Keaton describing how he was too scared to go to lunch at Horace Maynard Middle School, to private.
The youngster claimed that other students called him ugly, made fun of his nose and told him he had no friends.
He went to describe through tears how they poured milk on him and shoved ham down his clothes. The school has confirmed it is investigating the allegations.
‘Just out of curiosity, why do they bully?’ asked Keaton while looking directly at his mother’s camera phone. ‘What’s the point of it? Why do they find joy in taking innocent people and find a way to be mean to them? It’s not OK.’
He then went on to say while tears streamed down his face: ‘People that are different don’t need to be criticized about it. It’s not their fault. If you are made fun of, just don’t let it bother you.’
There were also claims that a PayPal account soliciting donations was launched by someone under Kimberly Jones’ name.
But Lakyn later took to social media to protest: ”The Instagram KimberlyJones_38 is NOT my mom. She has a private Instagram and hasn’t talked to anyone. ‘We haven’t received any money and don’t plan on it. The gofundme’s aren’t by any of us.’