KENNEWICK — Richland police are tracking hate-filled flyers connected to a virulently antisemitic group that began appearing in local neighborhoods this week.
At least two flyers were illegally placed in local mailboxes. Others, contained in plastic baggies, were dropped on driveways in north Richland.
Claire Venema, public information officer for the police department, encouraged anyone who encounters one of the flyers to call the non-emergency line, 509-628-0333.
Officers are responding to each report, she said. The city’s crime analyst is compiling information as it works to identify who is responsible.
Venema said the flyers appear to have been left at random and not a specific target. The affected neighborhood is not near a synagogue. The tone is unmistakably antisemitic, but the flyers don’t include overt threats.
Jon Amundson, Richland city manager, said the flyers reflect a nationwide trend that’s unwelcome in the city.
“The city of Richland unequivocally condemns the recent distribution of antisemitic flyers. These hateful materials have no place in our community,” he said.
Flyers left in mailboxes called all gun control efforts “Jewish.” Another, left on the ground, claimed every aspect of communism is “Jewish.”
The flyers included QR codes, links to websites and various images of prominent Jewish American lawmaker and historic figures.
The U.S. Postal Service said it had not received any reports of the flyers being left in mailboxes. It issued a reminder that it is illegal to place any unofficial mail in a mailbox.
The Anti Defamation League, which combats antisemitism on a global scale, solicits reports at its website, adl.org.
In an apparently unrelated hate incident this week, vandals removed rainbow Pride flags from yards in another north Richland neighborhood and discarded them in the street, spray painting “No” around the flags.
