KKK propaganda blankets Orange County neighborhood

Some residents in Santa Ana awoke on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday to find fliers disparaging King and advertising the Klu Klux Klan, authorities said.

According to the Santa Ana Police Department, about 40 homes near the 2600 block of North Linwood Street received the fliers, which were placed in plastic bags with a rock and some candy.

The flier urged residents not to commemorate King’s birthday, referring to the late Nobel Peace Prize winner as a “communist pervert.” A business card in the bags listed contact information for the Loyal White Knights of the KKK, including the white supremacy organization’s hotline and Web address.

The bags were dropped off sometime between 8 p.m. Sunday and 5:30 a.m. Monday.

The pamphlet distribution is not considered a crime, but police are investigating it as a “hate incident,” said police spokesman Cpl. Anthony Bertagna.

“There’s no threats made. It’s just propaganda for their beliefs,” Bertagna said.

Vivian Ly told KABC-TV Channel 7 that she spotted a bag while escorting her younger sister out of their home.

“There was a card that they were trying to go for racial purity, and they were part of the KKK,” Ly said. “It seemed to me like this was an attack.”

In July, residents in Orange awoke to similar outreach packages from the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Bertagna said.

Santa Ana police plan on working with the Orange Police Department and the FBI as part of the investigation, Bertagna said.

For breaking news in California, follow @MattHjourno.