Hate Group's Spring Valley Tweets Denounced

SPRING VALLEY, NY — A group of Rockland County leaders gathered Friday in front of the Rock Apostolic Church in Spring Valley to denounce a hate group. They were concerned about a post on Twitter dated Sept. 18 that appeared to show Identity Evropa’s flyers in the Rockland County village.

Among them were Senator David Carlucci (D-Rockland/Westchester), faith-based leaders, the Anti-Defamation League, Rockland County Pride Center and the Center For Safety & Change.

Identity Evropa is designated by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as a white supremacist, neo-Nazi hate group.

“We joined together to say in one collective voice that hate like this has no place in our community and will not be tolerated. This group had members at the deadly alt-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia last year, and they preach hate against Jews, blacks, Muslims, immigrants, and the LGTBQ+ community,” Carlucci said in a press release afterward. "We do not need them in Spring Valley, and we do not need them inciting violence anywhere in our state.”

Carlucci’s office reported the tweet to the Spring Valley police. They said officers would be on the lookout for the flyers to have them removed. However, police questioned if the group actually took the photos in Spring Valley or if they are just trying to generate fear and attention online.

ADL officials said they worried if a group like this continues their movement then anti-Semitic incidents could continue to increase at an alarming rate. Last year, the ADL reported a 90% increase in anti-Semitic incidents and a 100% increase in incidents on college campuses and on school campuses K-12.

“What is concerning, is that these flyers aren’t just on walls, but they are online and that is where hate is going,” said ADL New York Regional Director Evan Bernstein. “We are one year since Charlottesville, and we didn’t see a rally like this the year before. These groups know facial recognition software led to some of their members losing their jobs in Charlottesville so now they are doing everything they can to recruit young people online to do hate in their community.”

Identity Evropa is known for targeting young people on college campuses and through social media, posting flyers and hiding their ideology behind messages of shared community or appealing to current political division. Bernstein said in the past 3 days, the ADL tracked at least 7 different posts from Identity Evropa, showing their flyer efforts in different New York communities.

“Our young people are being poisoned by the hatred of the world, and they don’t recognize it because the social media is so deep into our lives," said Rev. Raymond Caliman, President of the Rockland County Ministers. "It is my prayer, we as leaders of the community teach our congregation and our children that love conquers all, and we don’t need racism or hatred."

Identity Evropa is based in Alexandria, Virginia, and Senator Carlucci believes their members targeted Spring Valley because its home to large Jewish and Haitian populations.

The posters caricatured Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who issued a statement:

"President Trump and Republicans in Washington have contributed to a toxic social dynamic that is spreading like a cancer across the country and fueling hateful material like the neo-Nazi fliers. These fliers only harden our resolve to take on hate.

"Hate is easy to sell, and there will always be those who try to peddle it. Those who spew hate are afraid. Hate is cowardice andthe ultimate weakness. We will not cower in the face of hate. We will not fold in the face of anger. And we will not succumb to intimidation.

"While they spread fear, we spread love. In New York, we have zero tolerance for intolerance, and we know that love will always defeat hate."

"We can’t solve the problem of hatred by hating back. Dr. King said that darkness can’t be abolished by more darkness; it can only be eradicated by light. If we hate these hateful people then they win,” said Rev. Richard Hasselbach with the Clarkstown Reformed Church in West Nyack.

Images via Sen. David Carlucci's office