Speaking out against hate is not optional in Eunice Trotter’s mind.
Trotter, the director of Indiana Landmarks’ Black Heritage Preservation Program, is among those who have expressed concerns about the distribution of Ku Klux Klan flyers found this week in Carmel, Fishers and Westfield, as well as in Northern Indiana .
“This type of behavior should not be ignored,” said Trotter, a 6e generation of Hoosiers, whose family has lived in Indiana since the late 1700s. “This must be aggressively, publicly and vocally condemned by our leaders.”
The flyers encourage tracking and reporting of immigrants, and they include contact information for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and a Kentucky chapter of the KKK. But while people have shared their outrage on social media, local police say they are struggling to identify a law that was broken in the distribution of flyers.
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Meanwhile, the flyers are causing problems for some Hamilton County residents. A naturalized citizen who lives in the province said her neighbor found some flyers on the street Monday morning.
“I understand we have a very strong legal status, but it’s still scary,” said the woman, whom IndyStar is not identifying because she fears she could be targeted despite her legal immigration status.
National groups have also weighed in on the distribution of the flyers, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization in the US.
“All Americans, and especially our country’s leaders, have a duty to push back against the promotion of hate-filled ideologies that we are witnessing nationwide,” said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesperson for the organization. “Minority communities feel increasingly vulnerable to the discrimination, and even violence, that inevitably results from such intolerance.”
What do the police do with the flyers?
Carmel police have identified the person responsible for distributing the flyers and believe he lives in another state, said Deputy Chief DJ Schoeff, a department spokesman.
As far as investigators can tell, the man is placing the flyers randomly and there is no evidence that he is specifically targeting addresses or individuals, Schoeff said.
“While this action is regrettable and certainly not reflective of our great community, we have determined in consultation with the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office that the indiscriminate distribution of the flyers does not rise to the level of a crime,” Schoeff said via email mail. “We will continue to consult the Public Prosecution Service if an action rises to the level of a criminal offense.”
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The Carmel Police Department is committed to defending the safety of all citizens and condemns any hate speech or actions, Schoeff added. The department has no reason to believe there is a danger to the community, but is asking residents to be vigilant.
Officials in Fishers and Westfield also confirmed that the flyers had been found in their towns and that investigations were underway.
Community leaders have had to choose between ignoring the flyers, defunding the hate group, or making public statements condemning them.
“Every instinct in me says we need to fight that, but it brings more attention,” Westfield Mayor Scott Willis said.
In Westfield, the city chose not to make a public Facebook post condemning the flyers to avoid drawing more attention. The City of Fishers declined to comment for this article for the same reason.
During a conversation with IndyStar, Willis shared his thoughts on the flyers.
“This isn’t Westfield,” he said. “It’s disgusting and I’m disappointed in whoever did it, but I’m sure it wasn’t a resident of Westfield. It does not reflect who we are as a community. Rhetoric is not necessary at all in our country.”
‘A voice of hate must be answered with a voice of love’
According to Trotter, Hoosiers can do a lot to combat hate groups like the KKK.
“Ordinary people can send letters to the newspaper speaking out against it and call their elected officials and demand that this kind of hate be publicly rejected,” she said. “They can speak out against this in their own small circle, with family, colleagues and in church.”
Pastor Chris Duckworth, of New Joy Lutheran Church in Westfield, shared a message on social media encouraging his congregation to speak out against the messages in the KKK flyers.
“I feel the need to speak up because the spread of this hate and lies in our community must be reduced,” Duckworth said. “There must be an equal or greater degree of love, honor and dignity. A voice of hate must be answered with a voice of love.”
Trotter was not surprised by the distribution of the flyers because of the current political climate in the country, she said.
President-elect Donald Trump said Monday he would declare a national emergency and use the military to carry out his mass deportation plans. During his campaign, Trump repeatedly promised a “mass deportation” that would round up immigrants across the country who broke the law.
“People believe they have a signal that this kind of behavior is okay, that this kind of disregard for the rights of all Americans and people who want to become Americans is okay, but it’s not,” Trotter said. “We must also remember that we are a nation of immigrants.”
She pointed out that this isn’t the first time a hate group has tried to divide the Hoosier state. Just this summer, resealable bags containing neo-Nazi propaganda were found in suburban Franklin Township, on the southeast side of Indianapolis. And last year, hate flyers were left at Carmel and Fisher’s homes, seeking recruits for the Ku Klux Klan.
“Indiana was home to a very strong and active branch of the KKK and other groups,” Trotter said. “None of those groups survived and that’s because of the kind of people we have here in Indianapolis and across the state. This too shall pass. .”
Contact Jake Allen at jake.allen@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jake_Allen19.
This article originally appeared on the Indianapolis Star: KKK fliers found in Hamilton County, Indiana. This is what is being done
