Authorities in Kentucky were investigating racist fliers purportedly issued by the Ku Klux Klan, which ordered immigrants to “leave now” and “avoid deportation.”
The fliers were found in multiple northern Kentucky cities on President Donald Trump’s Inauguration Day, prompting widespread condemnation from local officials and law enforcement.
The offensive materials, which appeared in Bellevue, Ludlow, and Fort Wright, depicted a cartoon of Uncle Sam kicking a family while declaring a “Mass Deportation” on January 20. The fliers also urged residents to “Monitor & Track all Immigrants” and “REPORT THEM ALL.” According to images shared by local police, they included phone numbers linked to Klan groups in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Bellevue Police Chief Jon McClain told ‘The Washington Post’ on Tuesday. “It was kind of alarming for our community.”
Local officials swiftly condemned the fliers, with Fort Wright Mayor Dave Hatter describing them as “hateful garbage” that is “loathsome and deplorable.” In a statement, Hatter asserted that such messages “do not represent the Fort Wright Community or the values of our businesses and residents, will not be tolerated in the City of Fort Wright and should not be tolerated by our society as a whole.”
The Ludlow Police Department acknowledged that while the fliers were protected under the First Amendment, they would seek criminal charges if the distributors could be identified. The department also confirmed receiving a harassment complaint related to the materials. Bellevue Police Chief McClain added that his department would consider littering charges against those responsible.
The Klan has a history of distributing fliers in Kentucky and neighbouring states as part of recruitment efforts. In September, the northern Kentucky-based ‘Link NKY’ news website reported that the Trinity White Knights, a Klan splinter group, had previously circulated similar materials in Covington.
The latest batch of fliers, which also reached northern Indiana in November, offered Klan membership applications and information packets for $1. Another flier found in Bellevue attacked Martin Luther King Jr., calling him a “fraud” and a “traitor to our country.”
A Bellevue resident who discovered one of the fliers lying in 9the snow on Monday expressed deep concern. “He was distressed and concerned,” McClain said. “He said he had some friends who just got their citizenship.”
The timing of the flier distribution, which coincided with the inauguration of President Donald Trump, has raised suspicions about its intent. Trump, who has long pushed hardline immigration policies, signed an executive order on his first day in office to end birthright citizenship. He has also promised the largest deportation campaign in U.S. history.
“I don’t think it’s a coincidence,” McClain said, referring to the fliers’ appearance on Inauguration Day.
A recorded voicemail linked to an Ohio Klan group further underscored the anti-immigrant sentiment behind the fliers. “In January, the world’s going to change for a lot of people, especially the immigrants in Springfield, Ohio,” the message said, an apparent reference to the Haitian community that had been the target of right-wing attacks before the election.
The Ku Klux Klan has a long and violent history in the United States. Trump previously denounced the group in 2017, calling them “repugnant” after initially facing criticism for failing to condemn white supremacists following the deadly Charlottesville rally.
