'There's hate out there': Anti-Semitic flyers placed outside South Tampa homes
TAMPA, Fla. - A known hate group is accused of placing dozens of anti-Semitic flyers outside homes in South Tampa over the weekend. The Tampa Police Department said they are aware of the situation.
The Jewish Community Relations Council said they are well-aware of the group behind the flyers and said they're an anti-Semitic and white supremacist hate group known for spreading conspiracies and propaganda about the Jewish community. FOX 13 is choosing not to name the group.
While police said there's no threat to the community, Jewish leaders said it's upsetting to see this happening.
Residents said more than 40 anti-Semitic flyers placed in Ziploc bags with rice were discovered in the driveways of various homes throughout South Tampa in the last day. One title pushes an anti-Semitic conspiracy about the media, and another flyer targets Disney executives.
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"I don't think it necessarily would make me feel unsafe, but I think it makes a number of people feel unsafe," Jewish Community Relations Council Chair Jonathan Ellis said. "I mean, it is coming from a, you know, from a white supremacist group. It is dealing with hate. It is coming at your doorstep."
Ellis said neighbors reached out to him concerned after finding the flyers in their front yards and driveways.
"These things are upsetting, so it lets you know that there's hate out there," Ellis said. "Not only is there hate out there, but the hate is directed, you know, to a specific religion."
The flyers target Jewish tropes, Ellis said.
"When you're dealing with anti-Semitism, one of the arguments that you would make it that Jews ‘control the world,’" Ellis said. "So when you see a flyer that indicates that the Jews control the media, this is just a republication or just again, adding on to that trope that has been out there, you know, for at least a century within the United States."
The Jewish Community Relations Council is asking residents who find the flyers to not post them on social media, but instead report the incident online at jewishtampa.com/security.