Racist flier targets Lansing man, who claims ignorance

THURSDAY, Sept. 3 — A Lansing man said he’s the victim of a prank that connected him to a “white power” group.

Last Friday, someone posted a flier around town headlined “RESTORE WHITE POWER.” The bottom says, “They made us free our pets, but we’re still expected to feed them.” Between them hangs the image of a noose.

The flier promotes twice weekly “Meetings and Discussions” on “rightful entitlement,” “supremacy “and “submission expectations.”

Then it says to contact “Bryon” and gives a phone number and an address.

The phone number and the address are real. Bryon is a misspelling of the victim's name, which is Brian McAttee.

There, McAttee said today, the truth ends.

McAttee said he “has no idea” who is behind the flier. He said he is 30 and works in administrative services in private industry. (City Pulse is disclosing his name with his permission. He tells his own story inCity Pulse's print edition tomorrow.)

He said he doesn’t know of any enemies, but “somebody really, really, really has some grudge against me.”

He disavowed any sentiments ascribed to him by the flier.

“My views are completely opposite,” he said. “This is harmful to me, my job, my reputation.”

McAttee said he has notified the police, who assigned a sergeant to investigate. He said the sergeant told him the police would “do the best they could” but didn’t offer much hope. He said the police said it would patrol his street to “make sure I’m safe.”

Efforts to talk to the sergeant and the Lansing Police Department media spokesman were unsuccessful.

McAttee said he learned of the flier when he received a “very threatening” call from someone who had seen the flier, which was posted around where he lives on the northwest side of Lansing.

He said he has received a number of threats over the phone: “’I hope you die,’ ‘I hope someone kills you,’ things like that.”

“I told the people it wasn’t real. A lot hung up. A few wanted to hear me out and tended to believe me,” he said.

McAttee said the calls have died down. He said it helped when “someone from a Christian group” posted that the flier was a fake.

“It’s been extremely stressful,” he said.

“I really, really want it to stop.”