Over 100 residents in the northwestern suburbs of Detroit found antisemitic flyers outside their homes days before the anniversary of the October 7 attack against Israel.
The ‘virulent’ material was discovered overnight on Friday by people living in West Bloomfield Township and Farmington Hills, according to police.
The flyers, which contained hateful stereotypes and insulting caricatures of Jewish people, were folded up inside Ziploc bags and weighed down with what appeared to be animal food, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Residents from other communities in northern Oakland County, such as Holly and Waterford, have also indicated that they’ve seen some of the same flyers.
‘The timing of this detestable activity exacerbates the chilling effect on our community,’ Farmington Hills Police Chief Jeff King said. ‘This type of hateful activity will not be tolerated in Farmington Hills and our agency will use all available resources to prevent, investigate, and prosecute those responsible for this incident.’
Leonard Weiss and his wife Deborah (pictured) live in Farmington Hills and condemned the racist messages found on their property
Pictured: Examples of some of the hateful flyers found on the doorsteps of people
Farmington Hills police recovered over 100 bags containing the antisemitic messages and stated that the animal food was used ‘for ease in hurling on to the residential lawns and driveways.’
They added that this incident is being investigated with the help of state and federal law enforcement agencies, the Anti-Defamation League and the communities who were affected.
Leonard Weiss and his wife Deborah live in Farmington Hills and were disheartened to find the flyers on their doorstep.
‘It’s frightening. I feel like we need to protect ourselves,’ Deborah told FOX Detroit.
‘You open it and it doesn’t have anything good to say. It’s blatantly antisemitic,’ Leonard added.
‘Every driveway we walked by had one, and there were neighbors that were on the street and they held them up. Again, you don’t have to be Jewish to be outraged here.’
Leonard Weiss (pictured) said he found the ordeal frightening
A street in Farmington Hills that was littered with the antisemitic messages
The dropping of these flyers also happened just after Rosh Hashanah, the holiday celebrating the Jewish new year, ended on Friday evening.
Monday will mark one year since Hamas militants attacked Israel and killed 1,205 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures that include hostages killed in captivity.
People with information about the incident in Michigan are urged to call the Farmington Hills Police Department Command Desk at 248-871-2610.
The West Bloomfield Police Department can be reached out 248-975-8934.
