‘Disgusting’: Racially offensive flyers left on doorsteps in Akron, Cleveland

AKRON, Ohio (WJW) – Lorie Turner describes the Kenmore neighborhood where she and her family have lived for the past ten years as quiet.

On Monday, her husband was leaving for work when he found racially charged flyer in their door.

“A promotional flier, if you will, from the Ku Klux Klan. That flyer also had depictions of Black or African American people on the flyer with a message and a warning, encouraging citizens to arm themselves,” said Captain Mike Miller of the Akron Police Department.

“I don’t know if we were targeted because we are a bi-racial couple. I mean, we have been together for 18 years going on our tenth year of marriage,” said Turner. “The images were so degrading and disturbing that I can’t believe there’s people in the world that still feel that way today.”

FOX 8 has learned that the flyers were distributed to at least five other homes on Turner’s street. Others were left at homes in Cleveland and in other Ohio cities. They have a link to the KKK in Kentucky.

“I do feel very uncomfortable, I feel threatened, I feel that my family is threatened by this. I mean, the way that I feel, I can only imagine how my husband feels, him being an African American man,” said Turner.

“We are all created equal, every last one of us and who are we to judge anybody by the way we look, by where we come from? And for that to happen in 2024 still and the violence, it just sickens me,” she added.

Akron Mayor Shammas Malik, along with Acting Police Chief Brian Harding, issued a joint statement saying:

“We want to be extremely clear: Racism and hate have no place in our community, and we find the flyer to be disgusting and offensive. We’re aware that these flyers have been placed in other Northeast Ohio communities and we are talking with other cities to gather further information. We encourage anyone with knowledge of these flyers or who has received one themselves to please contact the police department. This vile flyer does not represent the diverse and welcoming city that we call home, and we stand firmly against those who would deliver this type of material to our residents.”

“You will hear people, and to some degree rightfully, so talk about freedom of speech aspect of this right, but even with freedom of speech, sometimes freedom comes at a cost too,” said Miller.

Police want anyone who received a flyer or who knows anything about the flyers to call.

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