FLORIDA, USA — Multiple counties in Florida are investigating packets of antisemitic flyers that members of a hate group left in residential neighborhoods overnight.
Residents of neighborhoods in Volusia, Okeechobee, Palm Beach, Orange, and Brevard counties have all reported finding the flyers on their driveways. In each case, the flyers and the way they were distributed was the same: around 100 plastic bags filled with messages of white supremacy, antisemitism, and hate were weighed down with something (usually animal food pellets) and thrown onto driveways (typically from a car window) overnight by a masked person.
According to local reporting from WPTV, the group responsible for the flyers has been carefully coordinating efforts to distribute them, leaving a detailed guide on their website with instructions for "paperboys" to distribute their propaganda without being caught or penalized.
These efforts come amid a rise in extremism and antisemitism throughout Florida. According to a report from the Anti-Defamation League, extremism and hate crimes rose by 71 percent in Florida between 2020 and 2022. The report also confirmed that hate groups are increasingly coordinating with each other to commit hate crimes.
This coordination was evident over Labor Day weekend when members of various neo-Nazi groups converged in Central Florida to conduct rallies and public demonstrations. The sheriff's office in Orange County, the region where the neo-Nazi rallies took place, said there was little law enforcement could do to shut the hate groups down.
"We know these groups demonstrate in high profile areas in order to agitate and incite people with antisemitic symbols and slurs," the sheriff's office said. "The Orange County Sheriff’s Office deplores hate speech in any form, but people have the First Amendment right to demonstrate. What these groups do is revolting and condemned in the strongest way by Sheriff Mina and the Sheriff’s Office. They are looking for attention, and specifically media attention."
The office issued a similar statement in response to the flyers being left in neighborhoods. However, according to WPTV's reporting, some residents believe Florida has legal recourse against those who left hate pamphlets on people's driveways. House Bill 269, signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in April, prohibits a person from intentionally dumping litter onto private property for the purpose of intimidating or threatening the owner, residents or guests.
"You don’t have the right to litter on someone else’s property, and if you are caught, the penalties have gone up quite a bit in the state of Florida, you might find yourself in prison for a few years," Brevard County Rep. Randy Fine said in a report from FOX 35 Orlando.
Fox's reporting suggests that because of this law if police catch the people leaving the flyers on people's driveways, they could face at least five years in prison, possibly more per pamphlet.
The sheriff's offices in each of the counties are trying to find out who was responsible for the flyers. A report from WESH says police in New Smyrna are looking for a man who may have been driving a dark-colored Honda sedan with South Carolina plates.
In the meantime, law enforcement officials have suggested that residents throw away any flyers they find immediately. The ADL's senior director of investigative research, Carla Hill, offered additional advice:
"This is an opportunity for community leaders and elected officials to stand with Floridians against hate and extremism. Don't buy into conspiracy theories. Don't spread them. Stand against hate and extremism," Hill said.
