Huntington Beach police investigating after antisemitic fliers found in neighborhood

Huntington Beach police are investigating after several residents woke up Tuesday morning to find fliers with hate-speech messages on their front lawns.

City spokeswoman Jennifer Carey said the antisemitic fliers were found of in front of about 15 homes, all within one stretch of street, in a neighborhood near Bushard Street and Hamilton Avenue.

“HBPD is investigating, and they’ve already reached out to every impacted resident,” Carey said Tuesday afternoon. “They’ve interviewed some and are waiting to hear back from others, but detectives are investigating. They’ve notified our Human Relations Committee, which works hand-in-hand with HBPD, as well as the county of Orange, in investigating potential hate crimes.”

The two-sided fliers make claims attaching Jewish members of the Biden administration to the coronavirus pandemic and state that Jews are “celebrating their role in COVID.”

In a statement released Tuesday, Mayor Barbara Delgleize said the fliers’ messaging does not reflect the values or ideas of Huntington Beach.

“We have zero tolerance for hateful rhetoric or prejudice within our community,” Delgleize said. “I know that I speak for all of my fellow City Council members in condemning not only this flier but all instances of hate within our city.”

One Huntington Beach resident, who spoke anonymously due to fear of retribution, said she found the flier in front of her house on Tuesday morning. She added that she’s lived in the house for more than 23 years, and this is the first time anything like this has happened.

“I’m proud that my neighbors have rallied together to denounce these fliers, review their Ring and security cameras to identify any suspicious vehicles and piece together a timeline for when the fliers may have been distributed,” she said. “If anything, I think it has pulled our neighborhood together.”

This is the second time in less than a year that hate-speech fliers were found outside area homes. Ku Klux Klan propaganda was found outside homes in Newport Beach last March, around the same time a “White Lives Matter” rally was said to be in the works at the Huntington Beach Pier.

Alt-right leaders were seen in the crowd at the pier and several skirmishes developed, but the scene was largely peaceful as hundreds turned out in a counter-protest.

Huntington Beach police are asking anyone with information relating to this most recent incident to call (714) 960-8811.

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