Burning cross and racist literature raise Klan spectre

POLICE in the West Midlands are investigating the possible existence of a Ku-Klux-Klan group after discovering a burning cross and racist literature on wasteland at Brownhills, north of Walsall.

Police were called late on Friday night after passers-by reported seeing several people in hooded white robes running away from the site, known as The Mound, near the Staffordshire border.

The fire brigade extinguished the 5ft-high (1.9m) wooden cross, which had been driven into the ground, covered in rags and soaked in petrol. Two copies of the Klansman magazine, a placard bearing the words 'Join the Ku- Klux-Klan' and a National Front sticker were found nearby.

A police spokeswoman said: 'We are treating the incident extremely seriously because it looks as if it was racially inflammatory. We are making extensive inquiries in the area.' She said that police were not aware of any previous Ku-Klux-Klan activity in the West Midlands. 'We are puzzled because Brownhills is a very white area where there has been no racial trouble or disturbances.'

Superintendent Ken Evans said: 'It would seem that passers- by disturbed a ritual meeting of the Ku-Klux-Klan which involved the burning of a wooden cross and the distribution of racist material.

'We are appealing for the public to come forward with further information. Someone must know people who are dressing up in white sheet clothing and leaving the house late at night. Several people were seen running from the scene wearing white hoods.' Tony Robson of Searchlight, the anti-fascist magazine, said that the Ku-Klux-Klan had built up a membership of about 400 people in Britain since it began recruiting in the late 1980s. He said that it was most active in Nottinghamshire, Derby, West Yorkshire, Surrey and Hampshire. 'These are people who belong to indigenous Nazi groups such as the National Front and British National Party, many of them with previous convictions for racial violence. The Americans are obviously the role model.

'The cross burnings take place at initiation ceremonies for new recruits. Their day-to-day activity is to stir up racial hatred, raise racial tensions, carry out attacks and generally make life unpleasant for blacks and Jews in this country.'

Salar Khan, chief officer of the Race Equality Council in Walsall, said that neo-fascist groups were active in the Brownhills area and were believed to be behind a number of racially-motivated attacks.

'They staged a demonstration a few weeks ago and have been causing some problems,' he said. 'We are keeping an eye on things there. The Ku-Klux-Klan meeting is not a good sign.'

A spokesman for the Commission for Racial Equality in Birmingham said: 'It is a matter for the police in terms of incitement to racial hatred, but we share the concern of many people about this.'