The Abbotsford Police Department (APD) is investigating whether a hate crime has been committed after literature promoting the Ku Klux Klan was distributed on doorsteps in the community on Monday.
Const. Ian MacDonald said a resident called the APD just after 1 a.m. Monday to report that a Ziploc bag had been dropped on their doorstep and contained a one-page flyer titled “Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan” with a small amount of rice for weight.
An officer who went to the area then located a total of 32 packages distributed in the neighbourhood – in and around the west end of McKee Road, including Cassiar Road and Glenshiel Drive.
MacDonald said another individual showed up at the APD with the package, saying they had found it on their doorstep as well.
The flyer states, “Yes! White Lives Do Matter! We must secure the existence of our people & a future for white children!”
It also provides a phone number for the “Klan hotline” and a website.
Residents of Cherry Avenue in Mission also reported receiving the packages on Monday. The flyers were also distributed in Chilliwack in July.
MacDonald said police want to find the person or people responsible for distributing the flyers. He said all 33 packages that the APD have in their possession have been sent for forensic testing, and investigators are examining whether these incidents constitute a hate crime.
“(The flyers) are trying to get people to make contact (with the KKK) so part of the question is what’s the purpose of that? Is it to recruit like-minded people or something else?” MacDonald said.
Hate crimes are defined as any criminal offence against a person, group or property that is motivated by hatred or prejudice towards an identifiable group.
Under the Criminal Code of Canada, an “identifiable group” is “any section of the public distinguished by colour, race, religion, ethnic origin or sexual orientation.”
People who are convicted of a hate crime can face more severe sentencing that other criminal offences not motivated by hate.
Anyone else who received the flyer is asked to contact the Abbotsford Police Department at 604-859-5225 or text abbypd (222973).