CUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa. (WHP) — When the parents of a 5-year-old say while digging through Halloween candy, they found an advertisement for the Women of the Ku Klux Klan in their bucket after a local parade. Now, the ladies’ auxiliary is responding, saying children are “precious” and “not to be used as pawns.”
The business card for the “Women of the Ku Klux Klan” showed an email and phone number on the bottom of it. CBS 21 used the contact information to inquire about the card being handed out, to which a commander replied:
Some ladies have reached out and said they saw your local news story about a W.K.K.K. card that was supposedly put into a child’s candy container. We assure you that wasn’t the case at all. That’s not who we are. Children are precious and are not to be used as pawns. Not saying cards weren’t passed out in the local area. But not in that way. It is not illegal to belong to the Women of the K.K.K. Our mission is to help support our family, our community and our beloved country.Thank you for reaching out. God bless the wonderful state of Pennsylvania.
The Mechanicsburg Chamber of Commerce hosted its annual Halloween parade on West Keller and West Simpson Street on Tuesday, bringing out families to enjoy all the seasonal festivities.
Many people ended up spooked out and outraged after hearing about the possibility of a KKK member in the crowds recruiting.
Local residents nearby were furious and couldn’t believe what they were hearing when word got out about one child finding a recruitment card for the Women of the KKK.
READ MORE | Many outraged after 5-year-old girl gets ‘Women for the KKK’ in Halloween candy bucket
“Come drop it on my doorstep. Meet me in person and see what the **** happens,” said Mechanicsburg resident, Dillon Ryerse.
“Who, why, are you kidding me? Don’t ever come around here, your kind ain’t welcome. You’re not welcome on my street. Please do not show your face here,” said neighbor Rosie Friedline.
Residents call the neighborhood where the parade traveled through an inclusive community, surrounding Broad Street Elementary School.
Those who listened to the voicemail and called it sickening and disgusting.
“Well, I’m trying to figure out how it became part of the Mechanicsburg parade on Tuesday night,” said Dori Heller, Mechanicsburg local.
“It’s a fluke I mean it’s terrible. We have so much wonderful diversity in Mechanicsburg and if you saw the kids that walked by my house, the representation, you’d love it,” said Vikki Bekelgja.
The card reads, “a revival of the American spirit” and “the invisible empire.” Below the title of the organization, it says “family, country, liberty.”
According to Harrisburg Historical, an online research article with Messiah University, the Klan was very prevalent in central Pennsylvania and held parades featuring more than five thousand men and women in the 1920’s . They marched up and down familiar places like Front and Hamilton streets.
“It’s kind of sad you know, it made its way here,” said Heller.
“Maybe this year I will keep just a little bit tighter on them, just a little bit tighter leash when they go from house to house,” said Friedline.