The Alabama KKK has distributed flyers throughout Birmingham saying, "Get off the fence whitey and join the only group that has ever stood for the white man!"
This was outside my car this morning. I am enraged and I am here to stand with my black brothers and sisters
KKK flyers found littered around Birmingham neighborhood
The flyers warn of an unsafe America on one side: "Black radicals have reverted back to savages and more Muslims arrive daily."
On the other, they state: "This is a mass recruitment drive. No one is being targeted for race, religion, national or sexual orientation" and include the option to opt out of receiving mail from the Klan.
Klan Imperial Wizard of the United Dixie White Knights (UDWK) Brent Waller, whose group is based in Mississippi, told local news site AL.com that he awaited President-elect Donald Trump's fulfilling his pledges to build a wall between the US and Mexico and to deport illegal immigrants.
"We must right the ship in the next four years as we may never get another chance to secure a future for our race and children," he said. "We must hold Trump's promises close, and continue on to make damn sure he follows through."
He elaborated in an email to BuzzFeed News, "We have been screaming our country is going to hell at the New World Order crowd for 150 years. Donald Trump and others simply woke up to common sense and reality."
Waller said in his email that his recruitment flyers in Mississippi were "just the start of the battle" and were meant to "awaken the sleeping giant in the white Aryan race, to bring them into the white man's army." He said had signaled to other members of UDWK to ramp up their efforts.
Mississippi residents also posted pictures of flyers distributed in their neighborhoods. Rex Garretson, the clerk of Leakesville, Mississippi, the town where the United Dixie White Knights list their address, said he has not received reports of Klan activity since a few years ago.
#blacklivesmatter KKK leaflets appeared overnight in Birmingham AL, and a Mississippi State student found this simi… https://t.co/2fkZPe6X0p
The mayor of Starkville, Mississippi, Parker Wiseman, said local police had been investigating the flyers, but they "have not been able to verify the presence of members or material in the community."
The KKK and the United Dixie White Knights Realm of Alabama did not immediately respond to BuzzFeed News' requests for comment.
The surge in the KKK's activity mirrors the emboldened alt-right's glee at Trump's election, as trolls ramp up throughout the internet's social spaces.
Protesters in Alabama have planned a peaceful rally in response to both the flyers and Trump's election. Jordan Giddens, one of the rally's organizers, told BuzzFeed News that he hoped the rally would show unity.
"People are starting to feel comfortable saying horrible things because of Trump's election," he said. "We're hoping to demonstrate that people, even in Alabama, aren’t so hateful."
He added that the flyers disappeared early in the morning. He believed that the city had cleaned them up, but Birmingham Mayor William A. Bell said that citizens had done so.
"From time to time we get people doing stupid things trying to stir up conflict, which is what happened today with the litter on the sidewalk," Bell told BuzzFeed News. "I’m proud of the citizens — it’s a biracial community — who decided to clean up the litter on the sidewalk. That’s a testament to the overwhelming type of citizens we have."