© Reuters / Jessica Rinaldi
The Missouri chapter of the Ku Klux Klan is threatening to use "lethal force" against protesters in Ferguson who threaten their safety, equating some demonstrators to "terrorists."
Frank Ancona, leader of the KKK's Missouri operations, has been distributing fliers in the metropolitan St. Louis area warning protesters in Ferguson that those who have threatened police officers and their families will be met with violence themselves.
The flier, obtained by
Vice News, is addressed to "the terrorists masquerading as peaceful protesters." It also states that they have "awakened a sleeping giant."
"You have been warned by the Klu Klux Klan!" it continues. "There will be consequences for your actions against the peaceful, law abiding citizens of Missouri."
This kind of behavior is not exactly unusual for the KKK, which has circulated similar letters in various cities across the United States. But the delivery of these fliers comes at a particularly sensitive time in Ferguson and the surrounding St. Louis area.
Residents are currently waiting to hear whether or not a grand jury will bring criminal charges against Officer Darren Wilson, the white officer who shot and killed an unarmed black teenager named Michael Brown. The 18-year-old's death sparked massive, weeks-long protests, which made headlines around the country after police deployed a number of controversial crowd-control tactics - the use of tear gas and the establishment of a no-fly zone over the city, for example.
Comment: People are getting fed up. It seems like a tipping point is being reached. For more on this story, see:
First tobacco ban in U.S. proposed in Westminster, MA
Raucous town hall meeting on tobacco ban quickly ended