Editor’s note: A previous version of this story reported 40-50 flyers were discovered Tuesday. Police later clarified those figures were from a similar incident in January
(NewsNation) — Police are investigating after antisemitic flyers showed up on cars in a neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois.
A spokesperson for the Chicago Police Department confirmed “signage and flyers” were discovered on multiple vehicles Tuesday morning. No one is in custody at this time, the spokesperson said.
Alderman Brian Hopkins told the local CBS station residents found cards with offensive, handwritten messages under their car windshields.
There was a separate incident that occurred sometime between 9:30 p.m. Jan. 2 and 8:30 a.m Jan. 3, where police received reports of 40 to 50 flyers posted on parked vehicles in the same area, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
The Anti-Defamation League’s Midwest Chapter tweeted that these kinds of flyers have been left in Chicago neighborhoods multiple times. Tuesday’s, they said, was the fourth incident they had heard about in the span of only around five weeks.
David Goldenberg, Midwest Regional Director for the ADL, said the flyers they’ve seen were written on cardboard, and filled with anti-semitic tropes and hateful words. Flyers, he said, also pointed people to a website for a white supremacist group.
Other cities have seen these types of flyers as well, Goldenberg added.
Hate crimes have significantly increased within the last few years, the ADL said in a report that looked at “extremist activity” in the state from January 2021 through May 2023.
Since 2016, there’s been a 430% rise in the number of antisemitic incidents reported, according to the ADL.
There was a dramatic increase in the number of antisemitic acts reported after the start of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7. Between then and Dec. 7, ADL preliminary data shows, antisemitic incidents increased by 360% compared to the same time period last year.
“It is absolutely concerning and it is absolutely jarring to see this type of speech and hate that targets my community, that seems to celebrate violence against members of the Jewish community,” Goldenberg said.
White supremacist groups are known for capitalizing on moments of stress, anxiety or fear for the Jewish community, Goldenberg noted.
“Clearly this is targeted antisemitic hate material, and the fact that it’s being placed intentionally in residential neighborhoods where Jewish families live it seems designed to sow fear and unrest in the hearts of our Jewish residents,” Hopkins said in an interview with CBS Chicago.
This is why, Goldenberg said, it is important for people to speak out, make it clear this type of hate isn’t what the community stands for, and show it is a space where Jewish residents can feel safe.
“We would encourage anybody who has video of this particular individual, however good or bad it may be, to share it with law enforcement, and we would encourage law enforcement to do whatever they can to find this individual, and ultimately, if they are caught, to hold them accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” he said.