Updated: Officials denounce KKK flyers left in Ky. neighborhoods. Police have a suspect
Flyers that appeared to be from a chapter of the Ku Klux Klan were spread around multiple neighborhoods in Mt. Sterling Saturday evening, according to social media posts and the local police department.
Residents found the flyers Sunday morning placed on cars, according to Mt. Sterling police. The flyers were found in the Holly Hills subdivision and along Pines on Main.
Montgomery County Judge-Executive Chris Haddix said neighborhoods mostly on the western side of the county were hit with the flyers, including his own house.
“I think they were disturbed by it,” Haddix said on the neighbors’ response to finding the flyers. “Any group that’s founded on hate, we obviously denounce that.”
Detective Aaron Noel, a sergeant with the Mt. Sterling Police Department, said police are aware of the incident and they were investigating Monday. On Tuesday morning Noel said they have identified a suspect believed to be involved in spreading the flyers and have forwarded that person’s information to Kentucky State Police and the FBI.
“Potential charges for criminal littering are pending in district court,” Noel said.
While only one suspect was identified by Mt. Sterling police, Noel believes there are more people connected to the incident. Noel confirmed similar flyers were found in Paris and Winchester.
Social media posts also indicated that flyers were left in Paris neighborhoods, but local police didn’t immediately provide information on those incidents.
A lot people threw the flyers away while others submitted official reports to police, according to Noel. He encouraged people who received flyers to contact police at (859) 498-8899.
“We have copies of the flyers, so feel free to throw yours in the trash, where they belong,” police said in a Facebook post. “The M.S.P.D. and City of Mt. Sterling does not tolerate any kind of hate or bigotry in our community.”
The flyer appears to come from the Trinity White Knights of the KKK and promotes a “neighborhood watch.”
“You can sleep tonight,” the flyer reads. “The Klan is awake!”
The recent incident is one of several that have occurred in recent months and years involving the promotion of white supremacy groups in Kentucky.
A recent incident occurred at a rally to support pride and the LGBTQ community in downtown Corbin when a man brandished a firearm and a card that Trent Osborne, one of the organizers of the rally, said he recognized as a “KKK card.”
In November 2020, hateful white supremacist flyers were distributed in Lexington neighborhoods. The flyers said that Antifa and Black Lives Matter groups are “destroying our citys and all the time the news makes it seem like they are just peacefully protesting.” In 2021, similar flyers were placed in Scott County neighborhoods, prompting advocacy groups to speak out against the derogatory language used in the material.
