Residents in Beverly Hills and Westwood woke up to antisemitic flyers stuffed in sand-filled baggies on their lawns over the weekend.
“We were shocked and horrified. We heard our neighbors got it as well,” Sam Yebri, a Westwood resident who is also a candidate for L.A. City Council. “The sand is meant to weigh it down, throw it out of the car and get away quickly.”
Footage from a security camera in the neighborhood appeared to capture the driver of a dark colored SUV tossing something out of the vehicle around 1:30 a.m. Sunday morning before taking off.
Now, both the Beverly Hills and Los Angeles police departments say they’re investigating the incident.
“We know if hateful words aren’t stopped, they become violent,” Yebri told KTLA.
The flyers come on the heels of another group hanging banners on a 405 Freeway overpass in West L.A. Saturday, showing support for recent antisemitic remarks made by the rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West.
The Anti-Defamation League said they’ve been keeping track of the actions of the group who hung the banners.
“What we urge is not to give these propagandists the oxygen and the attention they seek,” said Jeffrey Abrams, regional director of ADL Los Angeles.
A local rabbi said these antisemitic messages are having an impact on some of the children in the Jewish community.
“Out of nowhere they are seeing banners of hate and they think to themselves, ‘oh my God, what did I do,'” said rabbi Chaim Mentz of Chabad of Bel Air.
Since the two incidents over the weekend, many leaders, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, Mayor Eric Garcetti and L.A. County District Attorney George Gascón have made statements and posted on social media, saying that they stand with the Jewish Community.
“No matter what race you are, what religion you are, this is hate,” Mayor of Beverly Hills, Lili Bosse, told KTLA.
Bosse, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, said it’s not the first time her constituents have been targeted, but that instead of the antisemitic flyers dividing the community, it brings people together.
“Anytime they hear this type of hate speech, we have to speak out loud, with no fear, and say no to this because that’s the only way to stop this,” Bosse said.
As for Ye, his prestigious Hollywood talent agency, CAA, announced Monday that the agency would no longer be representing the rapper. This comes as pressure mounts for Adidas, which distributes his Yeezy brand apparel, to end its own partnership with Ye.