KKK recruiting with candy in O. C.

Fullerton police investigate fliers circulated in two neighborhoods.

The Ku Klux Klan is back to delivering a bitter message with a sweet confection.

In January, on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, the KKK left f liers promoting the white supremacist organization around a Santa Ana neighborhood. Each f lier was tucked in a plastic bag along with a rock and candy.

Now, Fullerton police are investigating KKK f liers, also packaged with candy, found in two neighborhoods on Sunday.

About 100 f liers stuffed inside plastic baggies with a small rock and a Tootsie Pop were discovered on the lawns of homes in the 400 block of West Amerige Avenue and the 200 block of North Yale Avenue, accord- ing to Fullerton police Sgt. Kathryn Hamel.

The photocopied f liers ask residents to join the Orange County KKK, and they criticize blacks, Latinos and Jewish people.

Although no threats were made, Fullerton police plan to investigate the f liers to ensure against “additional activity that rises to the level of a crime or public safety concern.”

The KKK’s recruitment drive using candy has been used in various states, including Texas, New York and Alabama, as well as California.

Fullerton police said two similar f liers were recently circulated throughout Orange County. The f irst was reported in Orange last year, then it was followed by the January incident in Santa Ana, Hamel said.

According to the 2013 OC Human Relations Commission report, hate crimes in Orange County fell nearly 20% that year. The commission logged 49 hate crimes in 2013.

That year, a Muslim woman had her hijab torn from her head while her attackers screamed racial epithets; a synagogue was defaced with swastikas, and an African American man was choked while his attacker used a racial epithet.

The new hate crimes report will be released in August.

Anyone with details about the f liers is urged to call Orange County Crime Stoppers at ( 855) 847- 6227.