Huntington Beach residents found flyers promoting the Ku Klux Klan in their neighborhood on Easter morning, just a week before a “White Lives Matter” rally is planned at the city’s pier.
A resident reported several copies of KKK propaganda flyers on the south end of 19th Street Sunday morning, the Huntington Beach Police Department told KTLA.
Social media posts showed flyers placed in plastic bags featuring the words “White lives do matter,” along with a drawing of a hooded figure and a burning cross beneath the words, the Orange County Register reported.
Huntington Beach Mayor Kim Carr told KTLA residents sent her “countless emails expressing anger over these fliers and rallies.”
“The KKK fliers are a cowardly attempt to drum up support for a hateful cause that is in contradiction to Huntington Beach’s values of integrity, respect and inclusivity,” the mayor said in a statement. “We have zero tolerance for racism in our City, and while we absolutely support the First Amendment, we stand strongly against hiding behind it to promote hate.”
Similar flyers, also placed in plastic bags, were found outside homes in Newport Beach last week.
That time, residents in Newport Heights found their lawns and driveways littered with the flyers, the Los Angeles Times reported last week.
It’s unclear whether the flyers in the two Orange County cities are connected.
Huntington Beach police told KTLA they’re aware of a “White Lives Matter” event planned in the city, but declined to comment on whether the department expects violence or plans to send officers to the event.
Huntington Beach city officials hosted an open-session meeting Monday evening to discuss the flyers, and they voted in favor of denouncing white supremacy movements as well as hate crimes against the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.
“Tonight, we’ll hopefully take decisive action against these concerns by denouncing hate crimes, particularly among the Asian and Pacific Islander community, denouncing white supremacy movements, and coordinating two events to promote diversity,” the mayor said.
The council said it plans to hold a celebration to honor diversity in the city.