As a nation awaits a grand jury decision in the Ferguson, Mo., police shooting case that has divided some Americans along racial lines, members of a Missouri-based Ku Klux Klan chapter have been distributing fliers that promise to use “lethal force” against “terrorists masquerading as ‘peaceful protesters,’’’ Vice News reports.
The fliers, reportedly distributed by the Traditionalist American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, began appearing recently in the St. Louis area and on social media after, the group says, protesters threatened the lives of police officers and their families, the site says.
“You have been warned by the Ku Klux Klan!” states the flier obtained by Vice. “There will be consequences for your acts of violence against the peaceful, law-abiding citizens of Missouri.”
It’s the second time the Klan, “known as a hate group for its history of persecuting and abusing minorities,” has reared its head in Ferguson, a suburb of St. Louis, after unarmed black teen Michael Brown was shot and killed this summer by white police Officer Darren Wilson. The case, which has sparked ongoing protests against law enforcement’s use of excessive force in the black community, has unmasked deep racial fissures not only in the St. Louis area but also across the nation. A grand jury is meeting now to decide whether to indict Wilson.
Last summer a different KKK chapter declared that it was raising money for Wilson and his family. At the time, some members expressed skepticism about the fundraiser, noting that the group’s presence would only heighten tensions. But weeks of protests that also called for Wilson’s arrest have only served to boost recruitment numbers, leaders told the news site.
Read more at Vice News.