Chitwood: ‘These are race-baiting posters’

UPPER DARBY — A member or members of a white power hate group posted hundreds of fliers in Drexel Hill over the weekend, police said.

The KSS (Keystone State Skinheads), aka Keystone United, fact sheets lists only a post office box number and Web site on the two different flyers that were stapled onto utility poles.

“I first saw them Saturday morning on my way to work,” police Superintendent Michael Chitwood said of the 268 leaflets plastered along School Lane from Lansdowne Avenue along Arlington Cemetery in the Drexel Park section and on Garrett Road from Lansdowne Avenue to the Bishop Avenue Bridge, a major thoroughfare in the township.

“They are racist and offensive,” Chitwood said. “We received a couple of calls, but they weren’t up that long. Lt. John Burke had officers remove all of them. They were destroyed.

“The fliers solicit assistance to take back the community and stop white flight.”

Township officials also objected to the fliers and their content.

“The content is clearly inappropriate,” at-large Councilman Thomas Wagner said. “They should not be posted anywhere.”

At-large council member Connie Darmiento, a long opponent to any and all types of signs tacked on poles, objected to the message.

“This township is definitely against things like that,” Darmiento said.

Chief Administrative Officer Thomas Judge Jr. was notifying the state’s Human Relations Commission about the contents of the fliers.

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Chitwood labeled the perpetrators “cowards” for posting signs without personally taking responsibility for their actions and had a citation issued to the organization.

“These types of guys who put these signs up are cowards,” Chitwood said. “They targeted our community with a cowardly act and don’t have the guts to put their name on the piece of paper. And no person is identified on the Web site either.

“It caused a lot of stir among the officers. They were offended. It shows photographs of the last four Philly cops killed in the line of duty. This is an issue of officers getting shot by criminals. When you look at it, it’s racist. It sends a bad, bad message to the community. These are race-baiting posters.”

The accompanying flyer declares, “North Philly coming to a neighborhood near you!” listing “Drugs, Crime, Graffiti, Trash-covered Streets” as the possibility.

“It’s time to take our neighborhoods back” is in bold print and asks, “What are you going to do about it?” It also includes a Web site for information on how to help with news, politics and other activities.

“This is a disgrace,” Chitwood said. “Nobody wants to see this in the community. From my perspective, these are unacceptable and shouldn’t be on our streets. As far as making Upper Darby a great place to live, we do it every day.”

Despite not having a name on the posting, Chitwood directed officers to issue a citation to the organization for violation of township ordinance 2493 for unlawfully tacking a sign on a pole or post that carries a $500 fine.

“My goal is to get them to respond and then we will issue the violations individually for each flyer,” Chitwood said.

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FYI you can easily download these fliers from the KSS website, print them out and post them yourself. If I printed out 200+ fliers about the Philadelphia Philles would would I be threatened with a fine? I think not.

Im amazed that they had the POLICE go around and remove all of the posters!

Talk about your tax dollars at work. Glad I dont live in Upper Darby.