"When's the last time they let a rookie lead an investigation? Oh, that's right. Never." |
Phillip "Flip" Zimmerman was a protagonist in the 2018 film BlacKkKlansman who helped Ron Stallworth infiltrate the Colorado branch of the Ku Klux Klan.
He was portrayed by Adam Driver, who is perhaps most famous for portraying Kylo Ren in the Star Wars sequel trilogy.
A non-observant Jew, Zimmerman was a detective in the Colorado Springs police department. He was first teamed with Ron Stallworth when Stallworth was assigned to observe a speech Stokley Carmichael (aka Kwame Ture) was giving to the black student union at the local college.
After Stallworth was transferred to intelligence, Zimmerman was recruited in to Stallworth's operation to infilitrate the Ku Klux Klan. Stallworth had made contact with the Klan over the phone, but obviously couldn't do face to face meetings. Zimmerman portrayed Ron Stallworth in face to face meetings with local Klan members. While most members of the Klan were friendly towards Zimmerman once he started spouting hate speech, the paranoid Felix Kendrickson kept harassing Zimmerman, and tried to force him to take a "Jew Lie Detector Test" at gunpoint.
Zimmerman told other members that he had been in the military and served tours in Vietnam. He later claimed that he had been in prison. The difference in voices was explained as Stallworth having allergies.
As Stallworth, Zimmerman was able to meet with local Klan members and talk his way in to the organization. Stallworth arranged for him to receive a membership card from David Duke that gave Zimmerman the right to attend Klan functions. During meetings he learned that members of the US military were members of the Klan - including men who manned nuclear weapons consoles at NORAD. Zimmerman and Stallworth passed on to military investigators.
Zimmerman was able to meet with Duke and other Klan leaders at his initiation into the Klan.
A Klan member named Walter recognized Zimmerman as the man who had helped send him to prison. He warned Kendrickson but the two soon became so busy in their plans to carry out a terrorist bombing that Zimmerman was able to explain away their warnings to Duke and the others about Zimmerman.
Once initiated, Zimmerman and Stallworth were ordered to end their investigation in to the Klan. Zimmerman listened as Stallworth took a call from David Duke and laughed with approval when Stallworth informed Duke that he had been pranked in to helping a black man join the Klan, and told Duke off.
A short while later Zimmerman helped Stallworth with a sting operation to expose the corrupt cop Andy Landers and get him arrested.