KKK focus shifts toward illegals

Daytona Beach News-Journal (FL) - Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Author: FRANK FERNANDEZ - STAFF WRITER

PALM COAST - When the Ku Klux Klan wants new recruits for its hooded robes, it likes to toss fliers on driveways, according to a researcher who tracks the group.

And finding the Klan's leaflets on driveways often means a member of the Klan doesn't live too far from the neighborhood, said Heidi Beirich, director of research with the Southern Poverty Law Center.

"They tend to do this residential stuff with some frequency, hate groups do, and it usually means that there's somebody in the hate group that lives near there," Beirich said.

Flagler County is crafting a condemnation of Klan fliers recently dropped on driveways in the R, U Z neighborhoods of Palm Coast, according to a sheriff's report.

While it's typical for hate groups to put the fliers in plastic bags, the Aryan Nation in Idaho got creative when it deposited its message on lawns this Easter, Beirich said.

"They stuffed their hate literature in Easter eggs," she said.

No one in Palm Coast reported any Klan eggs on Easter. But David Morris said he found the packet of three fliers on his driveway off Ulaturn Trail on Easter morning, according to a Flagler County Sheriff's Office report.

One page mentioned Jesus Christ and included the passage "Happy Easter and God bless!" Another page contained anti-illegal immigrant messages, including in all caps: "Any politician granting immunity to these criminals should be convicted of an act of treason. Time is running out." The flier urged people to call their politicians: "Don't let them vote to give these criminals and terrorists citizenship!!"

Posted By: Ayanna Spikes

KKK focus shifts toward illegals
- STAFF WRITER, FRANK FERNANDEZ. "KKK focus shifts toward illegals." Daytona Beach News-Journal (FL) 15 Apr. 2010, N-J Final, Section C: 01C. NewsBank. Web. 16 Apr. 2010.