San Marcos Police Investigate Threatening 'Trump Klan' Flyers

Menacing, pro-Donald Trump flyers invoking the Ku Klux Klan appeared on Kamala Harris’ campaign signs in San Marcos last weekend, according to city police.

“Greetings! YOU have been identified and are now in our National Database of Miscreant Harris Supporters,” the flyers read. They are signed by “The Grand Dragon of Trump Klan #124,” who also indicated they are based in San Marcos.

It is unclear whether the individual or group behind the flyers is affiliated with the KKK. “Great Dragon” is a leadership title used by the white supremacist terrorist organization.

San Marcos police have received at least five reports of such flyers and are actively investigating their origins, department spokesperson Nadine Cesak said. All suspects will be referred to the Hays County District Attorney’s Office for prosecution, she said.

The main threat stated in the flyers: a comprehensive federal tax audit “as soon as the magnificent Donald Trump resumes the presidency.” Even more ominously, the flyers say that such a bureaucratic investigation will replace “the noose of the past.”

Cesak urged the public to pass flyers to the police non-emergency line. They must also leave flyers intact, she said, noting that a law enforcement officer would remove them.

She confirmed this is the first incident of voter intimidation the department has investigated this election cycle. The Hays County Sheriff’s Office has not received any reports of such incidents, according to Deputy Mark Andrews, a spokesman for the office.

But such incidents have become relatively common in Texas in recent years, according to data from the Southern Poverty Law Center, the nonprofit civil rights organization that tracks hate groups and crimes. Since 2018, the group has logged more than 2,000 flyer-related incidents in Texas targeting racial and ethnic minorities, political groups and LGBTQ+ people.

Last year the law center exposed the leader of a Driftwood based group which was reportedly behind nearly 80% of such flyers in 2022. So far, local law enforcement has no reason to believe the group is behind the San Marcos surge.

A senior research analyst at the Southern Poverty Law Center, who requested anonymity out of personal safety concerns, described the flyers as “alarming” and said they are intended “to intimidate people and let them know” that hate groups are nearby .

However, he said this is likely not an indicator of a large Klan presence in the area. Even as Texas has become a magnet for other hate groups, he says, the KKK’s activity has declined since the group’s national resurgence in the 1920s.

“Be vigilant, pay attention, but try not to panic,” he said. “There aren’t as many of these guys as we are.”

The FBI has instructed state and local law enforcement agencies to be on high alert for domestic extremists who could interfere with the election or the inauguration and act violently against candidates, elected officials, poll workers, journalists and judges overseeing election matters, a NBC News review of classified documents found.

The San Marcos flyers appeared days after a man attacked a poll worker in southwest San Antonio after she asked him to remove a pro-Trump hat. Jesse Lutzenberger, 63, faces one count of injury to an elderly person in connection with the attack.

How to get help

San Marcos residents are encouraged to pass flyers to the San Marcos Police Department’s non-emergency line at 512-753-2108.

Other members of the public who suspect they have been victims of voter fraud, interference or misinformation can report incidents to their local law enforcement authorities or FBI office. Alternatively, they can contact the Department of Justice at 800-253-3931 or fill out a form online complaint form.