Local police warn of flyers urging immigrants to ‘leave now’ and ‘avoid deportation’

A Ku Klux Klan group – advertising a Maysville, Kentucky, “national office” and chapters in Ohio, Kentucky and three other states – is distributing election-themed literature in Northern Kentucky.

The Ludlow Police Department posted a copy of a flyer on its Facebook page on Monday afternoon, with the headline “Leave Now. Avoid Deportation.”

“We are aware and have already taken one report for this disturbing and disgusting propaganda that is being passed around our community,” the police post reads. “This hateful garbage has been turning up in other cities as well.”

Officials in Fort Wright and Bellevue said in social media posts on Monday that such flyers have also been located in their communities.

“While other communities have also been targeted with this type of material in the past, to our knowledge, this is the first time our community has had this type of disgusting material distributed,” Fort Wright Mayor Dave Hatter said in a statement.

“Council, Staff, and I are outraged and dismayed that this has occurred in our community. It is especially appalling that it happened on Dr. Martin Luther King Day,” Hatter added.

The flyers hit just as Donald Trump took office on Monday, having earlier promised “mass deportations” of persons in the United States without legal immigration status.

Police to seek criminal charges for ‘despicable flyers’

According to Ludlow Police Lt. Greg Eastham, the Ludlow Police Department received a call from a Deverill Street resident just after 10 a.m. Monday about what he called “these despicable flyers.”

In a press release, Ludlow officials called the flyers “racist propaganda” adding that they “do not support nor condone this hateful garbage.”

“If we can identify the responsible parties, we will seek criminal charges against them,” the press release said. The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, has identified 1,430 such groups across the country, including several dozen in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.

The police release also acknowledged that unless the flyers cross “the threshold of a criminal matter, they are still protected under the First Amendment.”

‘Report them all,’ flyer advises

The flyer features an image of Uncle Sam, kicking a retreating family of four. In his hand, the Uncle Sam figure holds a “proclamation” with the words “mass deportation in 2025” and “report them all.”

Under the image, the Trinity White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan offers applications and memberships for $1. It lists “realms” in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Tennessee, with individual phone numbers and an invitation to “call the nearest realm for more information.”

The Ohio number goes directly to voice mail. A recording, in a male voice, says “In January, the world’s going to change for a lot of people, especially the immigrants in Springfield, Ohio.” (Springfield found itself in the national spotlight last fall as false rumors spread that residents of Haitian descent were eating pets.)

“But nothing’s going to change for the Ku Klux Klan and the Trinity White Knights,” the recording continues. “We will always secure the existence of our people and future for white children.”

The Kentucky number also goes to voice mail.

“Come stand with us and help fight against illegal immigration, homosexuality and every other form of wickedness and lawlessness,” the recording on that line says. “We hope to hear from you soon. You have a great white day of white power.”

The same flyer has turned up in several Indiana communities, according to multiple news outlets.

Ludlow police ask residents with information about who is disseminating the flyers to call the department at 859-261-8186.