The recent disturbances and controversies regarding the Loudoun County School Board have led to the distribution of Ku Klux Klan flyers in Leesburg, Virginia, police said.
The Leesburg Police Department said in a statement that residents on the southeast side of town reported on Thursday morning that the flyers, supposedly from members of the Loyal White Knights Ku Klux Klan, were left at their properties.
Maj. Vanessa Grisby, of the Leesburg police, told WTOP the police started getting calls about the flyers around 7:30 a.m. and a total of 35 flyers were reported. The flyers included contact information and a website, and specifically referenced recent doings at the School Board, she said.
They added that the recipients didn’t appear to be targeted.
Police are asking anyone with more information to call them at 703-771-4500, or anonymously at 703-443-TIPS.
On Tuesday night, the School Board had to cut off a public comment period after the crowd became unruly during a discussion of a proposed transgender-rights policy. One person was arrested, while another was charged with trespassing.
Earlier this month, a Loudoun County physical education teacher was suspended for announcing that he would violate the policy if it were enacted. He was reinstated by a court; the school system is appealing the ruling.
The board has also been beset by allegations — and a lawsuit — that the system is teaching critical race theory, and that the theory teaches children to hate others because of their skin color. Retired state Sen. Dick Black said at Tuesday’s School Board meeting that critical race theory amounted to “bigotry.”
Interim superintendent Scott Ziegler said earlier this month the system is not teaching the theory, which is taught at the graduate school level. He added, “The school division’s work on equity has been widely misrepresented and misinterpreted.”
Cheryl Harris, a UCLA law professor who teaches a course on the topic, told The Associated Press it’s a myth that critical race theory teaches hatred of white people and is designed to perpetuate divisions in American society.
The architects of the theory argue that the United States was founded on the theft of land and labor and that federal law has preserved the unequal treatment of people on the basis of race. Proponents also believe race is culturally invented, not biological.
Last week, several Pride flags were stolen and vandalized in Lovettsville.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
