LCSO investigating KKK letters left in Gateway community mailboxes

People in one Gateway neighborhood found letters from the KKK in their mailboxes, prompting the Lee County Sheriff’s Office to open an investigation.

The letters are allegedly from the “Cypress Cay” branch of the KKK and are filled with racial slurs about members of the Cypress Cay community.

Pamela Vazquez said she never thought she’d get a letter like that in her mailbox. “I was very shocked, disturbed that that letter would even come out in this area.”

The letter details a plan to keep minorities out of the neighborhood and uses multiple racial slurs, including the N-word. The letter also states there is a drive-by planned to intimidate an African American neighbor and that “all the other minorities need to know their place and it isn’t here at Cypress Cay.”

“Just the fact that someone could write those words, that someone could use such hateful rhetoric, is really terrifying and I really hope it’s not anyone in our community,” Vazquez said.

Several neighbors in the community said they think it has to be one of their own because the letter names members of the community specifically, and it accuses members of the homeowner’s association of intimidating and discriminating against minorities in the community.

“As a person of color myself, that’s really scary,” Vazquez said. “It talks about minorities and it really takes a jab at just about every minority that’s in the community.”

Vazquez and other neighbors are just waiting to learn who is behind the letter, and she said she’s watching her back in the meantime.

“I’m going to just try to be as alert as possible.”

WINK News reached out to members of the Cypress Cay Homeowner’s Association and they said the letter and their alleged involvement are completely false. They said they couldn’t comment further until LCSO’s investigation is complete.