Members of Congress including Doug Jones and Terri Sewell called for Goodloe Sutton of the Democrat-Reporter to resign

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Alabama members of Congress have called for the resignation of a newspaper editor who wrote an editorial calling for a resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan.

Goodloe Sutton, the editor and publisher of the Democrat-Reporter in the small town of Linden, told the Montgomery Advertiser that he authored the editorial, which was headlined: “Klan needs to ride again.”

“Time for the Ku Klux Klan to night ride again,” the article begins, denouncing politicians the author says are attempting to raise taxes in Alabama. “Seems like the Klan would be welcome to raid the gated communities up there.”

Alabama senator Doug Jones denounced the editorial and called for Sutton to resign.

“OMG! What rock did this guy crawl out from under? This editorial is absolutely disgusting and he should resign – NOW!” he said in a tweet on Monday night. “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!”

The 14 February editorial in the paper sparked outrage after Chip Brownlee, the editor-in-chief of the Auburn Plainsman at Auburn University, posted a photo of it on Twitter on Monday. “Check the date. A paper published this in 2019. Wow,” he said.

Sutton defended the article in his comments to the Montgomery Advertiser and went further, calling for officials in Washington to be lynched.

“If we could get the Klan to go up there and clean out DC, we’d all been better off,” Sutton said. “We’ll get the hemp ropes out, loop them over a tall limb and hang all of them.”

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Asked why he was promoting a violent white supremacist organization, Sutton reiterated on his support for the Klan. “A violent organization? Well, they didn’t kill but a few people,” he said. “The Klan wasn’t violent until they needed to be.”

Sutton and his tiny newspaper drew national attention two decades ago for their reporting on corruption by a local sheriff, receiving a congressional citation and being discussed as a potential Pulitzer prize contender.

But the paper, not generally published online, has run racist content before, including the 2015 headline “Selma black thugs murder Demopolite Saturday night”, and an editorial referring to former president Barack Obama as “Leroy Obama” and saying the mayor of Baltimore “displayed her African heritage by not enforcing civilized law” when “the other blacks in town rioted”.

Congresswoman Terri Sewell also demanded the publisher step down. “For the millions of people of color who have been terrorized by white supremacy, this kind of ‘editorializing’ about lynching is not a joke – it is a threat,” she said in a tweet. “These comments are deeply offensive and inappropriate, especially in 2019. Mr Sutton should apologize and resign.”