A US newspaper's publisher has written a frightening opinion piece, calling for the Ku Klux Klan to lynch Democrats and raid Washington DC.
Goodloe Sutton, a publisher and editor from Alabama, published the article in his print-only newspaper, The Democrat-Reporter.
- Students dress as KKK members and 'cotton picking' slave in black face
- How a black pastor changed a KKK member's life
The editorial was entitled 'Klan needs to ride again'. The idea behind it was that Democrats are going to raise taxes, and therefore the Ku Klux Klan should "night-ride" again - a reference to the horrifying raids performed by the hate group through black communities.
"Democrats in the Republican Party and Democrats are plotting to raise taxes in Alabama," Mr Sutton wrote.
"This socialist-communist ideology sounds good to the ignorant, the uneducated and the simple-minded people. Seems like the Klan would be welcome to raid the gated communities up there."
"If we could get the Klan to go up there and clean out DC, we'd all be better off," he told The Montgomery Advertiser. "We'll get the hemp ropes out, loop them over a tall limb and hang all of them.
"It's not calling for the lynchings of Americans. These are socialist-communists we're talking about."
He also told The Montgomery Advertiser he did not believe the Klan was a violent organisation, saying "they didn't kill but a few people. The Klan wasn't violent until they needed to be."
The Ku Klux Klan is infamous for violence, hatred and lynchings.
In 2000, Mr Sutton was inducted into the University of Southern Mississippi's Hall of Fame for his anti-corruption articles and editorials that earned him multiple awards.
Since publishing this opinion piece, he has been removed.
"Mr Sutton's subsequent rebuttals and attempts at clarification only reaffirm the misguided and dangerous nature of his comments," wrote the university in a statement on Tuesday.
"The School of Communication strongly condemns Mr Sutton's remarks, as they are anti-ethical to all that we value as scholars of journalism.
"In light of Mr Sutton's recent and continued history of racist remarks, the School of Communications has removed his place in our hall of fame."
Newshub.
