If you have found a Ziplock bag with a note and some bird seed inside, then you may have information tied to a Ku Klux Klan group.
James City County Police said two residents from Toano reported receiving letters from the Loyal White Knights, a white supremacist and antisemitic organization.
The letters were placed in Ziplock bags with what Stephanie Williams, spokeswoman for James City County Police, described as bird seed.
Some of the notes had different messages on them, but they all had the same contact information.
Charles Ericsson, spokesman for the Williamsburg Police Department said four residents in the College Terrace area reported finding the notes in their yards several weeks ago.
Ericsson said because the notes were not placed in mailboxes, the dispersion of the notes are not in violation of the United States Postal Service.
“Someone was driving around and throwing these Ziplock bags with bird seed and a letter in there in peoples’ driveways,” said Shelley Ward, spokeswoman for the York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office.
Ward said several residents in York County received similar letters several weeks ago.
Neighboring counties also reported the occurrence of the notes. The New Kent County Sheriff’s Office recently posted on their Facebook page a photo of one of the items and asked residents to report any information regarding the distributor.
Those flyers were found in and around residents’ mailboxes in the county and the New Kent County Sheriff’s Office is investigating, according to a published report.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation, the Loyal White Knights is a Ku Klux Klan associated group based out of Pelham, North Carolina, with branches throughout Virginia, Maryland, Ohio, and New York.
Because spreading information about a group is not in violation of the law, York County and James City County do not have an investigation open.
“When we talk to citizens or they call concerned, we certainly put them at ease, and let them know that if they see anything or if they are scared that they give us a call,” Ericsson said.
If Williamsburg residents do not wish to hold onto the items, then they have the right to toss the notes away, he added.
Williams advised uncomfortable James City County residents to file a report and give the notes to police if they receive one.
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