Residents in Springfield, Mo., were in for a surprise Sunday morning when a flier showed up on their doorsteps announcing an effort by the KKK to try and recruit neighborhood patrolmen.
Steven Burchett was shocked to find the flier when he was getting his morning paper.
“[I’ve] never had any trouble,” he told KY3 News. “I found the note in the front yard. And it was from the Klan. I was furious.”
The notice is from the Traditionalist American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and features a hooded Klansman pointing forward, reminiscent of Uncle Sam’s “We Want You” posters. The flier reads, “Neighborhood Watch: You can sleep tonight knowing the Klan is awake!”
The ad gives a website address and phone number to their 24-hour “Klanline.”
“That just tells you what a coward they are. A simple knock at the door, I can say I am not interested, thank you very much and go on. But instead they have to come through in the middle of the night and drop a rock in the front yard,” Mr. Burchett added.
Klan representative Frank Ancona told KY3 that his group has a nationwide flier campaign that aims to recruit members for Klan-sponsored neighborhood watch groups.
Mr. Ancona said the programs are not about race, claiming that if members saw a white person “up to no good” they would alert police just as well.
But residents are saying thanks, but no thanks.
“I am upset over this. I have no use for them people. None whatsoever,” Mr. Burchett added. “You know this is 2013.”
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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