Covington residents denounce 'cowards' who distributed racist fliers

Rasa - Someone dropped off racist fliers in front of homes in Covington's Peaselburg neighborhood, and the residents are not happy about it.

News ID: 428909

Date: 14 April 2017 - 23:48

RNA - It happened in the early morning darkness, with messages denouncing Muslims and promoting the Ku Klux Klan. The messages were in plastic bags with a marble inside to keep them from blowing away. Steve Miliano and Freddie Davis theorized whoever distributed them did so between midnight and 4 a.m. Thursday.

"I looked at it and read it, got mad," Miliano said. "Called the police."

Residents say Peaselburg is a quiet, welcoming neighborhood and the fliers are totally out of place.

"I don't think we have any Muslims here in the neighborhood, but they're as welcome as anybody else," Tony McAllister said. "This is a multi-cultural neighborhood and everyone gets along."

Lillie Manning called the fliers "wrong in every aspect."

"Whoever takes the time to do this could put their energy somewhere else, like cleaning up the neighborhood," Manning said.

Gary Brown and his wife, Janet, read the fliers and drew one conclusion.

"They're cowards," he said. "If they don't want anybody to see them while they're leaving them, they're cowards."

Karen Dabdoub of the Council on American-Islamic Relations denounced them as well. She said free speech is one thing, but threats targeting a community go too far.

"It's filthy and disgusting, un-American," Dabdoub said. "It's not what this country is about."

Covington Police Assistant Chief Brian Steffen said that, as distasteful as some may find the fliers, police are not aware of any crime that has been committed. He added they plan to monitor the situation and, if it does escalate into a crime, they will handle it.

"This is clearly the work of misguided racist individuals who are trying to intimidate the residents of Covington," said Cincinnati NAACP President Robert E. Richardson in a news release. "This attempt to promote racism and hate is repulsive and has no place in our neighborhoods, and it's important that we speak out and reject the hateful and divisive tactics of the cowards attempting to spread fear and intolerance."

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