Arrest In KKK Recruitment Push

WAMC Northeast Public Radio | By Dave Lucas

Published February 16, 2017 at 10:24 AM EST

An arrest has been made in connection with a series of racially-charged incidents in a Montgomery County village.

Police in Fort Plain have arrested an individual caught leaving Ku Klux Klan-related fliers on car windshields. Chief Ryan Austin is not releasing the identity of the person detained because of the racially-charged nature of the incident. Village residents have seen evidence of Klan recruitment and when Albany's Newschannel 13 rang the phone number printed on fliers, KKK Grand Dragon Will Quigg returned the call from his California home to tell the TV station his nationwide recruitment drive coincided with Valentine's Day.

Quigg added he has already recruited more than 100 new Klansmen in New York and Massachusetts.

Here is the communiqué provided by police:

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Dave Lucas

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.

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