Akron, Ohio (WJW) – Lorie Turner describes the Kenmore neighborhood where she and her family have lived for the past ten years as peaceful.
On Monday, her husband was leaving for work when he found a racially charged flyer on their door.
“A promotional pamphlet, if you will, for the Ku Klux Klan. This flyer also featured depictions of black or African Americans with a message and warning encouraging citizens to arm themselves,” said Captain Mike Miller of the Akron Police Department.
“I don’t know if we were targeted because we are a biracial couple. I mean, we’ve been together 18 years, going on our tenth year of marriage,” Turner said. “The images were so degrading and disturbing that I cannot believe there are people in the world who still feel this way today.”
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FOX 8 has learned that flyers were distributed to at least five other homes on Turner Street. Others were left at homes in Cleveland and other Ohio cities. They have a connection to the KKK in Kentucky.
“I feel very uncomfortable, I feel threatened, I feel like my family is threatened by this. I mean, the way I feel, I can only imagine how my husband feels, being an African-American man,” Turner said.
“We were all created equal, each one of us and who are we to judge someone by our appearance, by origin? And for this to still happen in 2024 and the violence makes me sick,” she added.
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Akron Mayor Shammas Malik, along with Acting Police Chief Brian Harding, issued a joint statement saying:
“We want to be extremely clear: racism and hate have no place in our community and we find the leaflet disgusting and offensive. We are aware that these flyers have been posted in other Northeast Ohio communities and are talking to other cities to get more information. We encourage anyone who is aware of these flyers or has received one to contact the police department. This vile flyer does not represent the diverse and welcoming city we call home, and we stand firmly against those who deliver this type of material to our residents.”
“You will hear people, and to some extent rightfully so, talking about the free speech aspect of this right, but even with free speech, sometimes freedom also comes at a cost,” Miller said.
Police want anyone who has received a flyer or knows anything about the flyers to call.
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