Less than two months after a chapter of the Ku Klux Klan announced plans to increase recruitment in Ohio, some residents in Perkins Twp started finding KKK fliers on their doorsteps.
The plastic bags are filled with rice and include a message from “The Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.”
Perkins Twp. Police began receiving reports from residents on a stretch of Strub Road starting on April 1.
Several baggies could still be found on front lawns on Monday afternoon.
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Many residents in the area were upset to learn about the messages.
“I almost take that as vandalism,” one resident who asked not to be identified told News 5. “And I think it’s even more disgusting that we’re right behind the high school, so obviously there’s a lot of kids in this area.”
The message includes a federal hotline for drug and alcohol addiction help.
“Save Our Nation. You Aren’t the Only One at the End of your Rope,” the flier reads, “Your family members friends and even neighbors could be next.”
The notice is followed by a North Carolina number that leads to a voicemail from the Klan chapter.
“We certainly don’t want that here,” said Assist. Chief Robb Parthemore, Perkins Twp. Police Dept., “And we want our community to be safe we want everybody to be safe.”
But Parthemore said that prosecution would be difficult, even if they had a suspect. Propaganda fliers like these are considered protected speech unless they specifically threaten an individual or family.
“As far as a criminal offense, possibly littering?” he said. “We would have to stretch it.”
Similar fliers were spotted in North Carolina, Illinois and Maine starting in February. That's when the Loyal White Knights and other Klan groups announced renewed efforts towards recruiting members in Ohio and other states.
