An Alabama press group has censured the Democrat-Reporter’s editor after he called for the KKK to ‘ride again’ in D.C and terrorize Democrats.
—Outrage after newspaper calls for KKK to terrorize DC Democrats ‘Hang all of them’—
The small-town Alabama newspaper editor Goodloe Sutton wrote a racist editorial rallying for the Ku Klux Klan to “clean out D.C.” and ride again against “Democrats in the Republican Party and Democrats [who] are plotting to raise taxes in Alabama.”
The Alabama Press Association’s Board of Directors voted to censure Sutton, who is also the newspaper’s publisher and it suspended the paper’s membership, AL.com reports.
The censure has set in motion the possibility of the newspaper getting expelled at its next membership meeting, according to its bylaws.
When a reporter from the Montgomery Advertiser reached out to Sutton to verify if he indeed wrote the post, he doubled down saying: “If we could get the Klan to go up there and clean out D.C., we’d all been better off,” Sutton told the Montgomery Advertiser. “We’ll get the hemp ropes out, loop them over a tall limb and hang all of them.”
Two members of Alabama’s congressional delegation, Senator Doug Jones, and Rep. Terri A. Sewell (D-Ala.) have also called for the editor’s resignation.
Jones, who once prosecuted two members of the Klan for their role in the 1963 Birmingham church bombing that killed four young girls, called the hateful editorial “disgusting” and demanded Sutton resign immediately.
“OMG! What rock did this guy crawl out from under? This editorial is absolutely disgusting & he should resign -NOW! I have seen what happens when we stand by while people-especially those with influence- publish racist, hateful views. Words matter. Actions matter. Resign now!,” Senator Jones tweeted Monday.