No charges filed after KKK flag hung next door to Black family

JeDonna Dinges, 57, of Grosse Pointe Park shows a photo of a KKK flag that was hung in her neighbor's window facing her home.

Credit: TNS

Credit: TNS

JeDonna Dinges, 57, of Grosse Pointe Park shows a photo of a KKK flag that was hung in her neighbor's window facing her home.

A Detroit man who hung a Ku Klux Klan flag in his window next door to the home of a Black family two weeks ago will not face charges after a prosecutor reviewed the case but concluded no state laws were broken.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy — who is Black — called the incident “horrible conduct” but said the controversy didn’t meet the criminal standard of ethnic intimidation, which would have required some form of physical contact, property damage or threats to occur before formal charges could be filed.

»2020: More than 1 million sign petition to designate KKK as terrorist group

“I strongly encourage the Michigan Legislature to look, revise and create laws to protect citizens from this kind of horrible conduct,” she said during a news conference.

The incident made national headlines last month after Grosse Pointe Park resident JeDonna Dinges, 57, said she peered out her dining room window and noticed a disturbing sight at her neighbor’s house.

Soon police were on the scene with plain draperies that were put up after the banner was removed, according to City Manager Nick Sizeland. The man’s girlfriend later claimed they put the flag in the window because they couldn’t afford curtains. The couple have not been identified.

Dozens of protesters turned out Feb. 21 for a march in the community.

“There is absolutely no question that what happened to Ms. Dinges was despicable, traumatizing and completely unacceptable,” Worthy said. “But, very unfortunately in my view, not a crime. The KKK flag, while intending to be visible to Ms. Dinges, was hanging inside of her neighbor’s house.”

Dinges expressed resolve, saying she understood why Worthy’s hands were tied.

“I hope the lawmakers are listening. ... The average person would not own a Klan flag, which is a true symbol of hatred,” Dinges said.

The KKK is a notoriously violent secret society that was formed after the Civil War. The hate group has historically terrorized Black Americans, using violence and intimidation to uphold the idea of white supremacy.

“There is absolutely no question that what happened to Ms. Dinges was despicable, traumatizing and completely unacceptable. But, very unfortunately in my view, not a crime. The KKK flag, while intending to be visible to Ms. Dinges, was hanging inside of her neighbor's house."

- Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy

Its members were known to burn crosses and dress in white cloaks with pointed hoods.

During the eras of Reconstruction and Jim Crow, bands of white vigilantes carried out lynchings, bombings and assassinations on Black people with impunity, and with few — if any — legal consequences.

During the civil rights movement, the Klan joined forces with Southern police departments and governments to oppose desegregation. Several members of the Klan have been convicted of murder in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham in 1963 and for the deaths of civil rights workers in Mississippi in 1964.

Memories of the atrocities are still an open wound for the Black community.

Today, the hate group exists mostly in the shadows, but remains a potent force during protests and other racially charged controversies that commonly erupt around the country. A self-proclaimed leader of the KKK was recently sentenced to prison for driving his truck into a peaceful crowd protesting the death of George Floyd on a Richmond, Virginia, roadway in 2020.