Local police say racist fliers on black homeowners’ doorsteps is
protected speech, though “possibly” littering

A collection of black homeowners in a Tennessee town are upset and
fearful after the Ku Klux Klan targeted their neighborhood with
hate-filled fliers, dropped on their lawns in the dead of night.

The fliers, which call for whites to secure the future for “white,
Christian children,” denounce interracial marriage and homosexuality,
along with calling for an end to “white discrimination.”

Complaints to the police in Greeneville, Tennessee did not help. In an
interview with local news channel WJHL, Greenville police officer
Terry Webb said that the fliers, perceived by residents to be
threatening in nature, “possibly” rise to the criminal level of
littering. However, he claimed, it’s their First Amendment right to
advertise racially-motivated hatred on a person’s doorstep.

“The Devil is busy and (the KKK) talk about being Christians, how can
you say you’re a Christian displaying all this hatred,” homeowner
Leroy Ripley told the station.

“Littering, are you kidding me?” jeered CNN’s Kyra Philips during a
Thursday segment. “Here we are in 2009. We have a black president, gay
leaders, successful interracial marriages. We have come a long way,
folks. Still, in this country, you can spew hate, make innocent black
residents fearful to come out their doors and all these punks get
busted for is littering.”