Community Corner
KKK Advertising in South County Target Parking Lot
The Ku Klux Klan left flyers for Target shoppers, inviting them to learn more about the group.
Updated 2:40 p.m. with updates from the KKK
The Ku Klux Klan is recruiting at Target.
The group left flyers on cars at the South County Target store complete with the KKK logo and drawings of figures in white hoods.
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"We're bringing back the traditional ways of the Ku Klux Klan to the modern day!" the flyer reads.
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Imperial Wizard/President Frank Ancona, of the Traditionalist American Knights Ku Klux Klan, said he didn't know exactly who handed out the flyers in South County today, but he says he isn't surprised.
"The reports I'm getting from the local people in that area (South St. Louis County) say that there's been an increase in black-on-white crime and robbery and child abductions," Ancona said. "People are really concerned. They'd like someone to come in and take a more aggressive stance."
Ancona said the Klan is dedicated to protecting residents from criminals, regardless of their race or ethnicity.
"Law-abiding citizens don't have anything to fear from the Klan," Ancona said, adding that if he saw a car being broken into, he would report the issue to police whether or not the car was owned by a white person.
Only about 20 flyers seemed to be on cars when Patch checked at about 2 p.m. today, and no Klan members were present. Affton-Southwest Police Captain Mike Dierkes said security from the Lindbergh Target checked the premises and found no one, but noticed the fliers.
The St. Louis County Police said Target has every right to refuse the KKK into their parking lot. The lot is considered private property with public access.
The flyers, which can be printed off of KKK websites, don't contain threatening or overtly hateful speech.
The flyers include a phone number for the 24-hour Klanline hotline, which introduces collars to the Klan with this message:
“We are unapologetically committed to the interests and values of the white race…The Traditionalist American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan is simply a movement of white people for the highest standards of Western Christian civilization.”