Police Allay Fears Of Racist PO Box

By Andrew Gorosko

Reacting to a deluge of news reports and broadcasts this week, Newtown police acknowledged they have been monitoring a post office box in Hawleyville used by the World Church of the Creator, an Illinois-based white supremacist group.

They downplayed, however, the threat that the PO box posed to public safety in Newtown. They also were skeptical of the implication in some of the news reports that there might be widespread racist activity in town.

“We became aware last year that there was a post office box in Hawleyville connected to the World Church of the Creator,” police spokesman Detective Robert Tvardzik said Thursday. 

“We’ve spoken to other [law enforcement] agencies about this and we have no reason to believe there’s any criminal activity, or any large activity involving this group in town,” he said.

“If we have any reason to believe there’s any threat to the community, we will take the necessary action,” he said.

Detective Sergeant Henry Stormer said town police have cooperated with state and federal law enforcement officials in investigating the circumstances of the group holding the postal box in the Hawleyville post office.

Sgt Stormer declined to disclose the identity of the individual who holds the box or any specifics about the case. Postal officials declined to comment on the matter.

The existence of the postal box came to town police’s attention last summer after the publication of a story on the topic in The Boston Globe. The story stated that a New England contact point for the World Church of the Creator was the post office box in Hawleyville. The racist group is based in East Peoria, Ill.

“We found nothing that should alarm the citizens of Newtown at this time,” Sgt Stormer said. The presence of the postal box does not pose any immediate public safety threat, he said. A police investigation has turned up no evidence of local hate crimes or racial incidents in connection with the Hawleyville post office box, he said.

Sgt Stormer said there have been no known racial problems stemming from the situation.

 “These hate groups, although they may be unpleasant, are protected under the First Amendment. Until they perform an act that violates criminal statutes, their views, their beliefs, their writings are protected under the First Amendment,” Sgt Stormer said.

“We have been aware of this for a very long time…We are monitoring the situation closely,” he said.