Antisemitic Leaflets Found in Pasadena Identical to Fliers Found in Other States

Antisemitic leaflets identical to fliers that showed up on the lawns of some Pasadena homes on Sunday continue to appear in communities across the country.

Authorities in Boise, Idaho and Greensboro, North Carolina said that the fliers were thrown to some homes from a passing car on Sunday.

Similar fliers were also found in Missouri, Austin and San Antonio this month.

On Tuesday, the fliers were found in Montgomery County, Maryland.

On Sunday, the flyers contained propaganda-style hate speech linking the COVID pandemic to the Jewish people and were stuffed in plastic bags and left on driveways in a four-block area of the city, according to Pasadena police Lt. Anthony Burgess.

They were found on Washington Boulevard, Mentor Avenue, Catalina Avenue and Wilson Avenue, according to Pasadena city spokeswoman Lisa Derderian.

The fliers were denounced by Mayor Victor Gordo and the City Council.

On Tuesday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations denounced the bigotry.

“All Americans, whatever their faith or background, must repudiate the growing racism, antisemitism and other forms of bigotry we are witnessing nationwide,” said CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper. “American Muslims stand in solidarity with members of the Jewish community around the nation as they are increasingly targeted by hate.”

A similar incident occurred last month in Beverly Hills, when similar flyers were distributed on the first day of Hanukkah.

According to the Anti Defamation League, since the beginning of the pandemic, extremists have used the virus as a platform for conspiracy theories.

“In March and April 2020, antisemitic, anti-government and Sinophobic conspiracies about the virus’s origins and ‘true purpose’ were rampant online. In December 2020, as the COVID-19 vaccine was being shipped to frontline workers across the country, very familiar conspiracy theories took root in online spaces alongside mainstream concerns about vaccine distribution and effectiveness,” the group wrote on its website.

Stop AAPI Hate, a national coalition that collects data on racially motivated attacks related to the pandemic, reported in August the group had received 9,081 incident reports between March 19, 2020, and June of 2021. Of those, 4,548 occurred last year, and 4,533 this year.