Palo Alto Addresses Anti-Semetic Flyers Found Across City

PALO ALTO, CA — Dozens of anti-Semitic flyers were found in Palo Alto over the weekend with anti-Semitic rhetoric that blamed the COVID-19 pandemic on the Jewish community.

The flyers were found around the city in plastic bags weighted down by rice on Feb. 20, according to multiple reports. Police were investigating the hateful messaging as a hate incident, according to the City of Palo Alto.

So far, police do not suspect that the recipients of the flyers were specifically targeted, but their presence raises concerns about hate crimes in Palo Alto.

Rabbi Yosif Levin spoke out about the flyers and called on Palo Alto respond with positivity and acts of good will, according a release from the city.

"Jews were blamed for all kinds of things by every movement that you can think of throughout the generations," Levin told ABC7. "It's an irrational hatred that is part of the world that we live in."

The flyers had the title "Every Aspect Of The Covid Agenda Is Jewish" and identified several public health officials as Jewish or transgender. Flyers also direct to a website hosting political topics and videos.

"Our community is strengthened by its diversity. We call on all of us to stand together in support of our neighbors and our community values. We are inspired by the grace of Rabbi Levin and District Attorney Rosen who have called on us to respond to these vile acts with deliberate acts of goodness and kindness to each other," said Pat Burt, Palo Alto mayor. "Together, we can overpower individuals who would try to undermine our goodwill.”

The Palo Alto Police Department has not been able to identify who has been scattering the hateful messages. Residents are encouraged to report any new incidents or additional information by calling the department's 24-hour dispatch center at 650-329-2413.

It wasn't just Palo Alto that was targeted over the weekend.

"Similar flyers, if not identical, have been distributed in other cities in the Bay Area and elsewhere over the past few weeks," said Palo Alto Police Chief Robert Jonsen.

A suspected white supremacist group also hit Berkeley and Marin, peppering hundreds of driveways with flyers containing hateful messaging.

Residents of the Paradise Drive and the Stewart Drive area found plastic bags containing flyers with antisemitic theories related to COVID-19, Tiburon police said.

The flyers were left on driveways, and the residences all appeared to be chosen randomly rather than directed at any specific Jewish residents, police said.

Similar incidents have recently been reported in San Francisco, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Pasadena and Huntington Beach.

"These types of acts are a reminder to all of us that hate crimes and hate incidents are serious and are taken seriously by the personnel of the Palo Alto Police Department," Jonsen said. "We will continue to review information as it becomes available to determine if criminal charges needs to be brought forward to the District Attorney for review."