KKK applies for Adopt-A-Highway program

BLAIRSVILLE, Ga. — The Georgia Department of Transportation is waiting to make a controversial decision on whether to allow a Ku Klux Klan group to adopt a highway.

They've now asked the state Attorney General's Office to help in the decision.

The KKK wants its name on an Adopt-A-Highway sign on Georgia Highway 515. It would be the first thing drivers headed north into the county would see.

State Rep. Tyrone Brooks told Channel 2's Diana Davis the idea is repugnant.

"This is a terrorist group that has a history of violence, that has a history of destroying people based on their race or ethnicity or religion. We can't do that in the state of Georgia," Brooks said.

The KKK's application for that first mile marker not the image of beautiful mountains and friendly people the county commission chairman wants.

"Certainty it's not the way we like to have Blairsville or Union County portrayed," Union County Commissioner Lamar Paris said.

The DOT said 173 community and civic organizations are involved in the Adopt-A-Highway program cleaning up liter on about 200 miles of roads.

The DOT said it would not comment on the KKK's application until the issue is resolved with the state attorney general.

In a statement, they told Davis, "The department continues to work through its usual process of reviewing the application. We will keep you advised as that review progresses."

Brooks said the DOT should never have considered the location.

"It is insane. It is shameful that the state of Georgia would even consider an application from a domestic terrorist group," Brooks said. "If you have to let the Ku Klux Klan put their name on our highways and our roads, end the program."

Davis was set to meet with a member or the KKK to ask about the road sings. She never showed.

The DOT could be forced to choose between approving the application or denying it and facing a likely legal fight.

They could also decide to simply end the state's 23-year-old Adopt-A-Highway program.

WSBTV