Alabama newspaper calls for KKK 'to night ride again'

In this Friday, Dec. 2, 2016 photo, two masked Ku Klux Klansmen stand on a muddy dirt road during an interview near Pelham, N.C. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves)

MONTGOMERY, Ala. - A small-town newspaper has called for a resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan, prompting two universities to withdraw the awards it had given its editor.

Auburn University and the University of Southern Mississippi decided Tuesday to rescind previous honours for Goodloe Sutton, editor and publisher of The Democrat-Reporter of Linden, Alabama.

An editorial published last week began: "Time for the Ku Klux Klan to night ride again." The editorial says Democrats and "Democrats in the Republican Party" are plotting to raise taxes in Alabama, so the Klan should raid "gated communities" where they live.

Sutton told the Montgomery Advertiser he stands by his Feb. 14 editorial. During an interview, Sutton suggested lynchings as a way to clean up Washington. Sutton also questioned whether the KKK is violent, claiming it "didn't kill but a few people."