Manhattan Beach police investigating antisemitic stickers placed throughout city

Manhattan Beach police are asking for the public’s help after a number of stickers containing antisemitic hate speech were put up throughout the city.

The department received calls reporting the stickers on Thursday, police said. Officers and city public works crews started work to remove the items.

Investigators believe the stickers were placed sometime overnight, police said.

“The Manhattan Beach Police Department is seeking the assistance of the community with this investigation in an attempt to identify the person or persons responsible for this disturbing act,” according to a statement by the department.

Anyone with information or possible home video recordings of the stickers being put up is asked to contact the department’s tip line at (310) 802-5171.

Meanwhile, Pasadena and Beverly Hills police are still investigating fliers filled with antisemitic theories about the COVID-19 pandemic that were recently found in driveways and front lawns of several area neighborhoods.

The Beverly Hills Police Department said it had received reports about the leaflets last Saturday and that they were similar to the ones that had been distributed last month before the start of Hanukkah.

The flier “contains propaganda-style hate speech related to the COVID pandemic and the Jewish people,” the department said in a statement. More than 200 fliers had been collected.

The fliers mentioned a “COVID agenda” and named several federal health and corporate officials while also noting they were Jewish. “Every Single Aspect of the COVID Agenda Is Jewish,” the leaflets read.

Beverly Hills Vice Mayor Lili Bosse took to social media to express her outrage.

“Once again, words of Jew hatred were dropped on the sidewalks of our city,” she said on Twitter. “As we have fought for ‘Never Again,’ I am sickened to see once again this despicable act occur in front of our homes.”

In Pasadena, city and police officials said they also collected more than 200 similar fliers after residents began reporting them early Sunday.

Lt. Anthony Burgess of the Pasadena Police Department said the fliers were enclosed in a plastic bag with pebbles to weigh them down and had been distributed overnight in a four-block area.

“It appears they were thrown out of a car as they were driving by each house,” he said, adding that the department was investigating.

The Pasadena City Council released a statement saying it would stand united against all forms of hate speech.

“The distribution of antisemitic fliers in Pasadena and other Southern California communities over the weekend is abhorrent and totally antithetical to the values of our city and its residents,” the city said in its news release. “Our thoughts are with our residents and all those hurt by these disgusting acts. We know Pasadena residents — of all faiths — will stand together and speak out against hatred in all forms.”

Times staff writer Ruben Vives contributed to this story.