NBC12 - WWBT - Richmond, VA News On Your Side
Residents in several Chesterfield, Virginia, communities are fed up with finding KKK flyers in their neighborhoods, but one local Ku Klux Klan leader says their numbers are up and those who are complaining have members living next door.
“In the last 6 years that I’ve been president of this organization I’ve seen the numbers probably triple,” said Frank Ancona, who is an Imperial Wizard of the Traditional American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.
Ancona explained that members often recruit new members and passing out those flyers – which are tucked in plastic bags, weighted with small stones and tossed on lawns in the middle of the night – is one way they accomplish that goal.
Ancona went on to say in an interview with local media that, next to gaining new members, the purpose of the flyers is to educate and inform, essentially “set the record straight” about their organization.
“We don’t hate people because of their race,” said Ancona. “We are a Christian organization.”
Ancona went on to say, “Because of the acts of a few rogue Klansmen, all Klansmen are supposed to be murderers, and wanting to lynch Black people, and we’re supposed to be terrorists? That’s a complete falsehood.”
Ancona explained that their organization is not a hate group, but simply wants to keep the white race white.
“It’s not a hateful thing to want to maintain White Supremacy,” Ancona stated.
Still, residents are not impressed with the flyers and want them to stop being passed out. Authorities, however, said there is nothing illegal about how they are being distributed, but they can still be reported to the police department. In fact, authorities encourage residents to let them know about the flyers because it helps them to stay current on what’s happening in the area.
“The funny thing is the same neighborhoods where you’re saying there are people who don’t want the flyer are neighborhoods where our members live, and neighborhoods where people are sympathetic to our cause and are glad to hear from us,” Ancona concluded. “We get emails from people encouraging us…thanking us for the information.”
All of the residents who talked to reporters said they threw the flyers in the trash and are not interested in what the group has to say.
[ NBC 12 ]
