White supremacist fliers circulated in Oklahoma in wake of Charleston massacre
Published 6:13 pm Monday, June 22, 2015
- KKK flier
PRYOR, Okla. – White supremacist pamphlets denouncing racially mixed marriage and urging a boycott of minority businesses littered lawns in this small Midwest town over the weekend, three days after nine black people were shot to death by a white gunman 1,000 miles away in Charleston, S.C.
The racist flyers bore the name of the Traditionalist Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Northeastern Oklahoma Klavern.
It was the second time this year the group has circulated leaflets in Pryor, a community 45 miles northeast of Tulsa. Five months ago, on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s National Holiday, similar flyers decried King and honored Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
Residents reported finding the latest pamphlets on their lawns when they awoke Sunday morning. They did not mention the Charleston massacre, instead connecting the leafleting to Father’s Day.
“This Father’s Day Weekend …. Be a man and take a stand for your God, Family, Race and Country!” said the flyer.
Mayes County Sheriff Mike Reed said his office had no advance warning of the group’s leafleting. He said there was nothing authorities could do about it anyway because of the First Amendment right to free speech. He said no laws were violated.
The pamphlets quoted the Bible as forbidding “race mixing” and described white women who bear mixed-race children or adopt them as “filthy white whores” and “pieces of dung.”
“We know who your race mixing whores and sympathizers are,” said the flyer. “We have been watching you for years, writing down your addresses and license plate numbers, and taking your pictures for our data bases.
“Do not come running to us for help when those animals have kicked in your front door in the middle of the night and have rape (sic) and murdered your children! Don’t cry out, ‘Where is the Klan?!’ when the corrupt Mayes County Sheriff’s Department, the Mayor and City Council turn a deaf ear to you.”
The pamphlets urged residents to boycott three local businesses as a way to discourage people of color from living and working in the community. They were identified as Maggie’s Mexican Kitchen, El Humilde Mexican Restaurant and Red Crown Credit Union.
“There are civil ways to discourage these animals from our community,” stated the message. “Deny them your Patronage!”
Authorities said they do not know who belongs to the Traditionalist American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, who was responsible for leafleting the community or even the headquarters location of the organization.
An unsuccessful court petition filed by the group in 2014 to overturn an ordinance banning leafleting in a Missouri community listed a post office box in Park Hills, Mo., as a mailing address.
Pryor is a mostly white town of 9,500 people. It is the seat of government for Mayes County, which the most recent U.S. Census survey showed is 70 percent white, 20 percent Native American residents, 3 percent Hispanic and less than 1 percent African-American.
Details for this story were provided by the Pryor, Okla., Times.