A newspaper in Virginia is under fire after publishing a KKK recruitment flyer on its front page. Now, residents of Westmoreland County, Virginia are calling for a full boycott of the Westmoreland News.
ABC News (WRIC) reported the story, indicating that the newspaper covered a story about members of the KKK dropping flyers off in front of people’s homes, but, also published a flyer for KKK member recruitment alongside the print in their newspaper.
The flyer included racist and anti-Semitic language, which upset and offended many residents of Westmoreland County, Virginia. Many express that they are not angry of the covered story–as it’s a news story–but, of the inclusion of the flyer, trying to persuade residents to join the white supremacist organization.
Colonial Beach Police Chief Danny Plott admits that he was the person who gave a copy of the flyer being dropped off in front of people’s homes to the newspaper staff–but, never believed they would include the actual flyer in the paper, giving the organization free publicity and promotion.
Many are taking to the Westmoreland News’ Facebook page, leaving 1-star reviews and speaking out about how offensive this action is against many in the community who have been subscribers to the paper for years.
Others believe that the paper was doing its job–covering a local news story.
The newspaper has not commented on the situation at hand.