KANSAS CITY (AP) - A Ku Klux Klan group claims a southeast Missouri city's ban on leafleting unoccupied vehicles violates Klan members' free speech rights, according to a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union.
The Traditionalist American Knights of the KKK had planned to place handbills on vehicles in Cape Girardeau on Sept. 28 and other dates that have not been determined. But the Klan group learned the city permits fliers to be distributed only when vehicle occupants are willing to accept them.
The lawsuit filed Thursday in federal court in Cape Girardeau alleges the leafleting restrictions infringe upon the group's free speech rights under the First Amendment. The Klan group also is seeking a preliminary injunction barring the city from enforcing the ordinance while the issue is being resolved.
Cape Girardeau's attorney was out of the office Friday and couldn't be reached for comment.
The Traditionalist American Knights' Imperial Wizard, Frank Ancona, of Park Hills, Mo., said his group isn't looking for "special treatment."