Racist flyers purporting to be from the Ku Klux Klan were found on the sidewalk near the IUP post office on Saturday afternoon, and the university says Campus Police and Indiana Brough Police are investigating. According to IUP, “two people (one anonymous, one student) contacted police about the fliers…no additional fliers have been found since Saturday afternoon.”
IUP students and employees were notified at about 9:30 Saturday night. Vice President of Student Affairs Dr. Tom Segar wrote, “The individuals removed and discarded these flyers, which were not approved for university posting.” He added that IUP Police are available 24/7 for anyone who has concerns about safety. The police phone number is 724-357-2141. Segar also wrote that students and employees can report an incident of concern online through the Office of Social Equity (www.iup.edu/socialequity/report-an-incident-of-concern/index.html).
One of the flyers, under the heading “Neighborhood Watch,” features an image of a hooded KKK member and bears the message, “You can sleep sound tonight, the Klan is AWAKE; Report Crime & Drug Dealers.” The other is headed “Reparations for Whites.” Both claim to be the products of the “Trinity White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan”, of Aberdeen, Ohio. They include contact information for chapters in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee and the line, “Calling all like minded white protestants.”
IUP stresses that “Our priority continues to (be to) provide support and resources to our students and employees as they need.”
As reported in Sunday’s TribLive.com, the same flyers were discovered in Brackenridge and Tarentum on Saturday. Police in those two communities are also investigating. The article said the flyers were found on the IUP campus and at off-campus apartments in Indiana.
According to a TribLive.com report, a woman who read a TribLive story online about KKK flyers found in Brackenridge and Tarentum Saturday reported that the same two flyers had been circulated both on the Indiana University of Pennsylvania campus and in nearby off-campus apartments.
Morgan Huey, 25, of Brackenridge, reported finding flyers containing Ku Klux Klan messages around 8:30 a.m. on Saturday when she returned home to the 900 block of Ninth Avenue.
Huey, along with several other residents, reported discovering the flyers to Tarentum police, who serve both Tarentum and Brackenridge, and have launched an investigation.
The flyers were located on the 700, 800, and 900 blocks of Ninth Avenue.
According to images Huey posted online, the flyers appear to be from the Trinity White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. One was headed with “Reparations for Whites,” while another claimed to be from a neighborhood watch with the statement, “You can sleep sound tonight, the Klan is AWAKE; Report Crime & Drug Dealers.”
The Tarentum Police are seeking anyone who may have camera footage of the individual(s) distributing flyers in Tarentum and Brackenridge. Anyone with information is asked to contact them at 412-473-3056.
