Racist fliers circulated throughout town of Kobe Bryant case

Jet, Sept 1, 2003

Racist fliers have been scattered on lawns and windshields in the town where Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant is to go on trial on sexual assault charges.

A White supremacist group acknowledged leaving the fliers, which were headlined "Don't have sex with Blacks," and said they were in response to the Bryant case.

We're concerned about areas such as Eagle County, where they have a relatively small number of Blacks," said Erich Gliebe, a spokesman for West Virginia-based National Alliance. He said other fliers would be distributed as the ease continues.

Bryant is charged with assaulting a White 19-year-old hotel worker at a resort in nearby Edwards in June. He has said the sex was consensual.

The fliers, beyond the headline, accused three Black men of lying about carrying HIV when they slept with White women. FBI spokeswoman Ann Atanasio said the agency was monitoring the situation but taking no action. "There is no threat contained in them," she said of the fliers. This is apparently a common tactic used by the National Alliance."

District Attorney Mark Hurlbert was not concerned that the fliers would affect the Bryant case, spokeswoman Krista Flannigan said.