Lexington neighborhood littered with KKK flyers ahead of MLK Jr. downtown march

Austin Horn, Lexington Herald-Leader on Jan 19, 2026

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LEXINGTON, Ky. — Flyers advertising white supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan were found in a downtown Lexington neighborhood late Sunday night and early Monday morning, according to the neighborhood association’s president.

The hate group’s flyers came in advance a federal holiday celebrating the life of Civil Rights Movement leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It is unclear who distributed them.

The distribution of flyers alarmed residents of the Kenwick area, like Blake Hall, president of the neighborhood association. Hall said he reacted with “disgust.”

According to photos of the flyers sent to the Herald-Leader, one sought young recruits for the “KKK’s Youth Clan Corp’s (sic).” Another flier called the MLK holiday “James Earl Ray Day,” after the assassin who killed King.

Lexington hosts a well-attended demonstration in honor of King’s legacy every year on Jan. 19, featuring a march through downtown and remarks from community leaders.

Hall told the Herald-Leader the reaction among his community has been unanimous.

“It’s nice to see my neighborhood’s universal rejection and revulsion against it,” Hall said.

He said a neighbor first reported seeing the flyers in their yard Sunday night. Other residents in the area, which sits between Lexington’s downtown core and the Idle Hour area, spotted them Monday morning.

Hall added Lexington police were called to the scene via a non-emergency line Sunday night. A police spokesperson has yet to respond to a request for comment on the incident.

“It seems like they’re going for shock and awe on MLK Day and trying to get that attention. The fact that they’re doing it in the middle of the night shows how much of cowards they really are,” Hall said.

This is not an isolated incident. Similar fliers with racist propaganda were dropped off across Central Kentucky in October. Police in Frankfort reported KKK flyers in their community that month, as did officials in Midway.

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