The United Klansmen of America, an Alabama based white supremacist group, left flyers on doorsteps of homeowners in Milford’s North End.
Advertising a new neighborhood watch, the flyers proclaim residents “can sleep well tonight knowing the UKA is awake!”
Milford Police say The United Klansmen of America do not run a legitimate neighborhood watch program in the city. Officer Jeffrey Nielsen urged residents who received the letter or witnessed who may have left them, to contact police.
The flyers were left on doorsteps in plastic bags early Monday morning. North End residents like Randi Bluemer were both stunned and saddened by the development. “We just want to live and be neighborly,” Bluemer said. “Problems are going to start to erupt because of it.”
City Alderwoman Greta Stanford says no additional protection is needed in this quiet section of the city. Stanford believes the messages were left by someone wanting to cause controversy, “I see them as self-appointed vigilantes and Milford takes care of its own. We have an excellent police department.”
Scot X. Esdaile, President of the Connecticut State Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People wasn’t surprised by the development.
“In Milford and in Stratford we’ve been monitoring this type of behavior and this type of activity for a while now,” said Esdaile. “We’ve seen the White Wolves, the Skin Heads and the KKK in this particular area.”
The Connecticut chapter of the Anti-Defamation League is monitoring the situation but believes the messages do not reflect the beliefs of most Milford residents.
“You don’t measure a community by an act of hate or a hateful situation because that can happen anywhere,” said Josh Sayles, Assistant Director of the Anti-Defamation league in Connecticut. “You measure a community by how they respond to that situation and there have been many people in Milford who have spoken out saying I’m not going to read this, I don’t like this, the UKA does not belong here.”
Fox Connecticut tried to reach the United Klansmen of America for comment, our phone calls and emails were not immediately returned.