BELCHERTOWN — Police are investigating the weekend delivery of a white supremacist publication to homes throughout town.
Several residents told police they received copies of the publication “The Crusader,” according to a statement from Belchertown Police Detective John F. Raymer Jr.
The paper is a Ku Klux Klan-affiliated publication that bills itself as “The Premier Voice of the White Resistance.” Police characterized the paper as “controversial.”
“The papers were placed over the weekend in mailboxes and some residents were concerned and offended by the nature of the newspaper,” Raymer said in the statement.
The department is looking into the matter, he said.
“I am sickened and saddened that the KKK continues to exist,” Belchertown resident Sarah Wolfe said in an email. “And, it’s a stark reminder that we must work continually to create the community that we wish to have.”
The group Belchertown Voices for Justice, of which Wolfe is a founding member, met Monday night in response to the incidents. Wolfe said the group condemns “this act of hate and intimidation.”
“We stand against the politics of hate that seek to divide us and redouble our commitment to the values of freedom, justice, and equality that bind us together,” Wolfe said. “Belchertown Voices for Justice is committed to creating a safe, welcoming, and inclusive community.”
The publication showed up in a number of areas in town including the Dana Woods and Oakridge areas, according to Cliff McCarthy, a member of Belchertown Voices for Justice.
“I’m outraged. I don’t want Belchertown to have an image out there in the world that this is a place that is ripe for hate and recruiting for hate groups,” McCarthy said. “I don’t think it is. I just think it is unfortunate that somebody targeted some folks in this town now.”
A call to the number listed on the publication’s masthead went unanswered Monday afternoon. The quarterly publication in published in Harrison, Arkansas.
A news report from June 30 details a similar incident in Attleboro.
Emily Cutts can be reached at ecutts@gazettenet.com.