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San Marcos Police Investigate Threatening ‘Trump Klan’ Flyers

Online Niel October 29, 2024

Threatening pro-Donald Trump fliers invoking the Ku Klux Klan appeared on Kamala Harris’ campaign billboards over the weekend in San Marcos, according to the city’s Police Department.

“Greetings! YOU have been identified and are now in our National Database of Ungodly Harris Supporters,” the flyers say. They are signed by “Grand Dragon of the Trump Klan #124,” who also indicated that they are based in San Marcos.

It is unclear if the person or group behind the flyers is affiliated with the KKK. “The Great Dragon” is a leadership title that has been used by the white supremacist terrorist organization.

The San Marcos Police Department has received at least five reports of such flyers and is actively investigating their origin, said department spokeswoman Nadine Cesak. Any suspects will be referred to the Hays County District Attorney for prosecution, she said.

The main threat contained in the flyers: a sweeping federal tax audit “once the magnificent Donald Trump takes the presidency again.” More ominously, the flyers say such a bureaucratic inquiry will replace the “noose of old”.

Cesak urged members of the public to report flyers to the Police Department’s non-emergency line. They should also leave fliers intact, she said, noting that a law enforcement official will remove them.

She confirmed that this is the first incident of voter intimidation the department has investigated this election cycle. The Hays County Sheriff’s Office has not received reports of any such incidents, according to Deputy Mark Andrews, a spokesman for the office.

But such incidents have become relatively common in Texas in recent years, according to data from the Southern Poverty Law Center, the civil rights nonprofit that tracks hate groups and crime. Since 2018, the group has recorded more than 2,000 incidents of flyering in Texas targeting racial and ethnic minorities, political groups and LGBTQ+ people.

Last year, the law center exposed the leader a group based on Driftwood that he said was behind nearly 80 percent of such flyers in 2022. So far, local law enforcement has no reason to believe the group is behind the San Marcos surge.

A senior research analyst at the Southern Poverty Law Center, who requested anonymity for personal safety reasons, described the leaflets as “alarming” and said they were designed “to intimidate and let people know” that hate groups i’m nearby

However, he said it’s probably not an indicator of a major Klan presence in the area. Even as Texas has become a magnet for other hate groups, he said, it has seen a decline in KKK activity since the group’s national resurgence in the 1920s.

“Be alert, be aware, but try not to panic,” he said. “There aren’t that many of these guys like us.”

The FBI told state and local law enforcement agencies to be on high alert for domestic extremists who could interfere with the election or inauguration and act violently toward candidates, elected officials, poll workers, journalists and overseeing judges election cases, an NBC News review of classified documents finder.

The flyers in San Marcos came days after a man assaulted a poll worker in southwest San Antonio after she asked him to remove a pro-Trump hat. Jesse Lutzenberger, 63, faces a charge of injury to an elderly person in connection with the attack.

How to get help

San Marcos residents are encouraged to report flyers to the San Marcos Police Department’s hotline at 512-753-2108.

Other members of the public who suspect they have been victims of voter fraud, interference or misinformation may report incidents to local law enforcement or FBI office. Alternatively, they can contact the Department of Justice at 800-253-3931 or fill out a online complaint form.