Biased Posters Found On Rutgers Campus And Highland Park

HIGHAND PARK, NJ — Suspicious flyers that police say are biased popped up throughout Highland Park last Tuesday.

And some of those same flyers were found on the Rutgers New Brunswick campus last week as well, said a university spokeswoman.

A total of 20 fliers, pictured above, were posted throughout the borough of Highland Park Tuesday morning, Oct. 5, said Highland Park Police Chief Rick Abrams. He said the fliers appear to be biased in nature.

Abrams said police took them down immediately upon finding them.

The fliers read the words "Not all men are created equal" and then says "Ubermensh Rise Up," with an email address included.

"Our officers worked diligently to remove all of the fliers, over 20 in total, wherever they were located," said Chief Abrams. "There is a bias component to the images posted and this bias nature has been reported at the county and state level for more in-depth investigation. Our detectives are continuing to work with local, state and federal partners to identify the origin of these fliers."

"Currently, there are no known threats to the community associated with the distribution of these fliers," he added.

While the U.S. Census does not track religious affiliation, there is a strong and vibrant Jewish population in Highland Park, with multiple synagogues located in the borough, plus Congregation Beth-El in nearby Edison.

The fliers appear to be recruiting for white supremacist, antisemitic groups.

While that has not been confirmed, it would not be the first time such fliers have appeared in the Highland Park/New Brunswick area.

• In October of 2019, white supremacist recruitment fliers were found taped all over the Rutgers New Brunswick campus, with several in the area of Voorhees Chapel. They were left by Identity Evropa, a white supremacy group. The group said they are trying to recruit members at college campuses. Read that story and see photos of those fliers: White Supremacist Fliers Found Again At Rutgers University.

Later that same month, a swastika was found spray-painted on Stonier Hall.

"This has happened at Rutgers before," Rutgers Hillel Director Andrew Getraer told My Central Jersey at the time. Hillel is the Jewish student association on campus. "Every couple of years there's white supremacist flyers distributed around campus. I don't know in this case who did it, but in the past it has always turned out to be a lone individual."

• Two years before that, in February 2017, white supremacist group American Vanguard put up a poster outside the Rutgers Paul Robeson Cultural Center with the words "Imagine a Muslim-Free America." That same month, American Vanguard put up a second flier outside the Rutgers Center for Latino Arts and Culture. It said something to the effect of "we deserve the right to exist." Read that story and see photos of the fliers: Muslim Hate Poster Found on Rutgers Campus

Like Identity Evropa, American Vanguard is a white supremacist group. The Anti-Defamation League said they also go by the name Vanguard America and describe them as a "white supremacist group that opposes multiculturalism and believes America should be an exclusively white nation ... VA is particularly focused on recruiting young men and has engaged in outreach efforts to attract students on American college campuses."

Vanuard America has targeted Jewish people and towns with high Jewish populations in the past, said the Anti-Defamation League. In their 2018 manifesto, Vanguard America stated that “Islam, Judaism and all other non-European or foreign religions” should not have the freedom to practice in the United States.

Anyone with information about the flyers found last week in Highland Park, or anyone who has video of them being posted, is asked to contact Detective Sgt. Culver at 732-572-3800 Ext 4248 or Jculver@hpboro.com with the Highland Park Police.

Additionally, in 2019 the Anti-Defamation League published this report of 216 incidents of hate, extremism and anti-Semitism in 112 towns in New Jersey.

One of the groups that's predominately mentioned in their report is the New Jersey European Heritage Association (NJEHA), which the ADL says is a small, New Jersey-based white supremacist group. "NJEHA espouses racism, anti-Semitism and intolerance under the guise of 'saving' white European peoples from purported imminent extinction," the report said.

According to that report, here are some of the incidents that occurred in Central New Jersey in 2019:

• Edison, March 24, 2019: American Identity Movement, an alt right group, distributed propaganda at Middlesex County College that read: "Protect American Workers" and "Embrace your identity."
• Edison, June 25, 2019: New Jersey European Heritage Association distributed propaganda that that read: "Multi-culturalism has failed," "Strong borders strong nations," and "No sanctuary state!"
• Highland Park, July 18, 2019: New Jersey European Heritage Association put up fliers that read: "Deport illegal aliens" and "Reclaim your nation reclaim your heritage."
• Edison, Aug. 18, 2019: New Jersey European Heritage Association put up signs that read: "Reclaim your nation reclaim your heritage," "End all immigration," "Reclaim America," and "Build the wall! Deport them all!"
• East Windsor Township, Dec. 7, 2019: New Jersey European Heritage Association distributed fliers with the QR code for their group and propaganda that read: "Take back your country."

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