GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — KKK fliers have sparked an investigation in Gaston County.
Police told Channel 9 that fliers were found inside zipped bags left at homes outside Dallas over the weekend.
Police don’t think it was an attempt to intimidate homeowners, but they think the KKK is trying to recruit people in the area.
Channel 9 has previously reported on the distribution of KKK recruitment fliers.
Someone dropped them from a moving car around Clemson University’s campus in October.
Police said those fliers were found in clear zipped bags along campus roads and in parking lots.
The youth pastor at New Hope Baptist Church said the church felt that it had to do something after people in neighborhoods across the county found fliers outside their homes.
The church will hold a prayer vigil for love on Tuesday night.
Robert Hord was not happy about the flier he found in the driveway of his home near Cherryville.
"It's not a message I subscribe to, but whether I like it or not, I got it," Hord said.
It has an image of a hooded Klansman pointing with the words, "The KKK wants you."
Hord still has childhood memories of going to restaurants that had bathrooms and entrances for whites only.
"Things used to be pretty ugly,” he said. “I have seen a lot of changes. I don't care to see it go backwards."
The Southern Poverty Law Center said the Klan isn't growing, but flier drops like this are increasing.
They said the Klan feels that the current political environment favors them, and the drops are usually done by one person at night.
Several were tossed into Coy Harrison's neighborhood near Dallas.
"Speak to us face to face,” Harrison said. “Don't be cowards about it. This is our community."
Harrison is a U.S. Air Force veteran.
"I fought for this country,” Harrison said. “My father fought for this country. My grandfather fought for this country."
His children and neighbor Sheila Johnson's children carpool to and from school.
"It’s very unfortunate that someone has to cowardly come into the neighborhood (and) distribute these ugly pieces of paper so children can find them," Johnson said.
The Southern Poverty Law Centers said there were 116 flier drops by the Klan in 26 different states last year.
The center doesn't have stats for this year, but it expects the numbers to be much higher by the end of the year.
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