KKK flyers advertising ‘action' show up in Canonsburg

CANONSBURG, Pa. — Police in Washington County are looking into flyers that were placed on people’s windshields and utility poles advertising a KKK “crime watch.”

Channel 11’s Cara Sapida found one of the flyers lying on the ground. The flyer says, “Take a stand! Tired of drug filled streets? Tired of rampant crime? Tired of in-effective police? Join the Klan. We’re watching you.”

Canonsburg police Chief R.T. Bell said since there’s not an actual message of hate, the suspects can’t be charged with a hate crime.

“Nothing in there is hateful. Is part of the real KKK -- I don’t know, I have my doubts. But that’s my opinion,” Bell said.

Bell did say it’s against city ordinance to post on telephone poles.

According to the KKK grand wizard, those flyers in Canonsburg are not from them and they are not associated with the organization that hung them.

Police in Canonsburg said a similar incident happened about a decade ago.

“It’s hard to believe someone would do something like that in today’s society,” Richard Ranier said.

Last week, similar flyers showed up in central Pennsylvania’s Fairview Township.

PennLive reported that the Ku Klux Klan passed out flyers alerting residents that, "You can sleep tonight knowing the Klan is awake!"

The newspaper later confirmed these flyers were in fact from the local KKK.

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The group's imperial wizard, Frank Ancona, told the paper they started it after a string of break-ins. "It's just like any neighborhood watch program. It's not targeting any specific ethnicity. We would report anything we see to law enforcement ... We don't hate people. We are an organization who looks out for our race. We believe in racial separation."

WPXI