Beverly Hills residents awoke on Sunday to find antisemitic flyers in their yards, and police are investigating it as “a hate incident,” the Beverly Hills Police Department announced in a release.
The flyers, which contain “propaganda style hate speech related to the COVID pandemic and the Jewish people,” were found in the front yards of homes in “several blocks of the northeast area of the City” at about 6 a.m., police said.
“They accused the Jewish people for starting COVID, which is ridiculous,” said Beverly Hills resident Richard Maize.
“Jew or non-Jew, you should be outraged. How can this happen?” added Rabbi Chaim Mentz of the Chabad of Bel Air.
Police speculated that the flyers, which were found in plastic bags with rice so they would not fly away, were likely placed at the homes overnight. City officials collected the flyers Sunday morning.
Sunday marked the first day of Hanukkah, and police are promising to provide “additional patrols throughout the City to ensure a safe holiday season.”
“Police are continuing to investigate and attempt to identify the persons responsible for this disturbing act,” police added.
Beverly Hills Mayor Robert Wunderlich noted that a “hate crime will always be unacceptable,” but the timing of this incident makes it even worse.
“[It is] particularly egregious it is during this time of year, when it should be the community coming together,” Wunderlich said.
Anyone with information or surveillance footage of the incidents is asked to call 310-550-4951.