Hundreds Attend Church In Response To KKK Fliers Found Circulating Neighborhood

Hundreds of community members gathered Saturday at the First Mount of Olive Baptist Church in Leesburg, Virginia, looking to counter racist propaganda found in their neighborhood.

The meeting comes after at least 10 Leesburg residents said they discovered handouts in plastics bags affixed to their doorsteps claiming to be from the Klu Klux Klan. One of the fliers reportedly criticized Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., referring to the civil rights leader as a "Communist Alcoholic Pervert."

Leesburg resident Bishop Shawn Stephens said that a woman who had been driving by tossed the pamphlet onto his property Jan. 12, a few days before the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

"I believe [Martin Luther King Jr.] would be heartbroken," Stephens told WRC-TV, an NBC affiliate in Washington, D.C. "He was impactful for every group out there. He fought for them. And he was a fair gentleman. And he was a gentleman that loved all people."

Leesburg Town Council member Ron Campbell spoke to the outrage the brochures caused throughout the community, according to WJLA, an ABC affiliate in Washington, D.C.

"It actually happened in my community where I live, in Potomac Station," Campbell told WJLA. "My neighbor, one of those fliers was left in his driveway, called me and came over. We talked about outrage that somebody would have the courage, under cover of darkness, that false courage, to really think that this could work."

Loudoun County Sheriffs, with the help of the FBI, launched an investigation into the origin of the fliers in January. Investigators said that residents in Purcellville, Smith Creek Circle and Scotland Heights Road in Round Hill had reported finding similar handouts on their property.

Leesburg was targeted with similar fliers last Halloween when residents reportedly received plastic bags filled with candy and messages including derogatory cartoons against African Americans and Jewish people.