Over the weekend, Nov. 4-5, recruitment fliers purportedly left by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) were found in Carmel, Indiana, and surrounding communities.
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State Rep. Earl Harris Jr. (D-East Chicago), chair of the Indiana Black Legislative Caucus (IBLC), issued the following statement regarding the incidents:
“It is shameful, though unfortunately not surprising, that the KKK is working to recruit Hoosiers into their hate group in the year 2023. Less than a century ago, the Klan served as a shadow government for Indiana.
Its influence got people elected to – and removed from – offices, police departments were infiltrated by Klansmen and those who didn’t agree with its message were largely ostracized. The memory of this influence sadly still looms over the Hoosier state today.
The recruitment fliers that were left in and around Carmel are not new tactics, but when hate rears its ugly head, we are called to address it and to dismantle it.”
Carmel officials respond
Before the 2023 municipal election, Carmel’s mayoral candidates made statements about the incident.
“I’m disgusted to see what appears to be KKK flyers being found in Carmel and surrounding communities. I reached out to Carmel PD and look forward to the results of their investigation,” said Republican Sue Finkam in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Democrat Miles Nelson said he also called police.
“The KKK or bigotry of any kind will not be tolerated in our community, period,” he said on X, formally known as Twitter. “This behavior — and this group — has no place in our community. They need to go home — and never come back.”
Some of the flyers list a phone number and a post office box in Maysville, Kentucky.
A voice recording at the number identifies it as belonging to the Trinity White Knights, a “law-abiding Christian organization,” serving white men, women and children.
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