ORLAND PARK: KKK and ANP Fliers Found One Day Before Mosque Shooting

For the third time in the past several months, KKK fliers, this time accompanied by American Nazi Party (ANP) fliers, have been found in a suburb just outside of Chicago. This time it's Orland Park. On every occasion the fliers claimed to represent a different Klan faction. This fact as well as the lack of previous klan activity in these areas led us to believe that this might have been the work of one or two individuals. This most recent flier drop in Orland Park has us feeling even more confident in that assumption. Here is why: The American Nazi Party works with no one. They openly state to all new members that they hold no allegiances with any group outside of themselves. The chances of them doing a flier drop with a klan faction, or even having shared membership is highly doubtful. The chance of them coincidentally doing a flier drop in the same parking lot is even more doubtful. 

Taken from the Chicago Tribune:

Fliers promoting the American Nazi Party and Ku Klux Klan were posted on cars in a La Grange Road shopping center parking lot around noon Monday, Orland Park police said 

A woman shopping at Michaels at 15102 S. La Grange Rd. brought a flier she'd found on her windshield to Michaels staff, who checked the cars in the parking lot and found one additional flier before reporting the incident to police, said Lieutenant Tony Farrell. 

One carried a swastika, the words "white power" and a website address for the American Nazi Party, while the other touted the Ku Klux Klan. Both fliers appeared to be printed from websites, Farrell said. 

"It is alarming to people, but we don't know who put them there or what their intentions were. None had any threats, just propaganda," said Farrell, adding that there's no way to know whether particular individuals were targeted or the fliers were placed at random. The woman who found the flier also told police about the incident but there were no other reports, Farrell said. 

Sightings of similar fliers, while not unheard of, are rare, said Farrell, who couldn't recall the last time they were found in Orland Park. In January, the Tribune reported that Tinley Park police records showed four incidents of Ku Klux Klan paraphernalia being seen or distributed since January 2012, and in October, a group claiming connections to the Ku Klux Klan was named in fliers found in New Lenox. 

Police don't believe a crime was committed and don't know whether the fliers were created by a member of either group or someone "doing it for the shock value," but police will continue to look into any reports of suspicious messages, Farrell said 

What's even more odd, is that one day later in Orland Park, a bullet was fired at a Mosque during prayer service. It is unclear if these incidents are directly related.  

Taken from Sun Times:

A bullet was fired through the dome of an Orland Park mosque Tuesday morning, damaging the building during a early morning prayer service, according mosque officials. 

No one was injured when the single shot was fired a few minutes after 6 a.m. during the Fajr, or break-of-dawn prayer, according to a statement from the Chicago office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. 

The bullet penetrated the dome and caused debris to fall and disrupt the service, according to the statement. About 40 people were in the prayer center at 6530 104th Ave. 

“Incidents such as this have a chilling effect on worshippers,” CAIR-Chicago Executive Director Ahmed Rehab said in the statement. 

“No one should have to go to their place of worship worried if they’ll make it back home alive,” he added. 

CAIR said Orland Park police were contacted and are investigating. Orland Park police could not be reached for comment.