Police say the signs aren’t illegal, so people in the neighborhood are taking some action of their own.
Some are doing a double take, others are mystified. “Hopefully, they’ll find out who did it and find out what it’s all about,” said one Emsworth resident.
Still others have taken matters into their own hands.
“I tore about 30 of them down,” said another resident. “I told everybody in the neighborhood what I saw, and collectively, we’ve been tearing them down all day. We don’t want it in our neighborhood; we don’t need it in our neighborhood.”
They are Ku Klux Klan recruiting signs, which were posted up and down the main street in Emsworth.
They say things like “Take a stand!! Join the Klan.” They also give instructions on how you can join an organization known for violence and white supremacy.
“It’s a small town, it seems like everybody knows each other here,” an Emsworth resident said. “When you told me what the sign said, I was just actually shocked. It’s hard to believe.”
Despite the fact that it’s illegal to post signs on utility poles, police say the signs themselves aren’t illegal.
“They don’t meet the level of any type of criminal activity. So, at this point, there’s nothing we can really do about it,” said Ohio Township Police Chief Micklos Norbert.
But police aren’t discouraging people from tearing down the signs.
Meanwhile, everyone wants to know who put them up?
“It’s got to be either a kid or somebody from out of town because we’re not like that around here,” the resident who was tearing down the signs said.
