During the presidential election of 1868, the Ku Klux Klan under the leadership of Forrest, along with other terrorist groups, used brutal violence and intimidation against blacks and Republican voters. Forrest played a prominent role in the spread of the Klan in the South, meeting with racist whites in Atlanta several times between February and March 1868. Forrest probably organized a statewide Klan network in Georgia during these visits. On March 31 the Klan struck, killing prominent Republican organizer George Ashburn in Columbus.