BERKELEY — Police and metropolis leaders strongly condemned ugly, crude fliers promoting anti-Semitic statements discovered Sunday exterior a number of hills houses.
In a assertion Monday, police mentioned officers responded to house owner and resident studies of plastic sandwich luggage containing false statements blaming Jewish folks for the COVID-19 pandemic, and mentioned the luggage appeared to have been left by “a small, fringe [w]hite [s]upremacist extremist group that targets Jewish communities in addition to different minority teams all through the Bay Space.” The gadgets left had been much like these left Sunday exterior a number of Palo Alto houses’ doorsteps.
The Metropolis Council joined with police in a press release, saying “[a]s the middle of the free-speech motion, Berkeley has at all times supported folks’s rights underneath the First Modification. However let’s be clear — the Berkeley Metropolis Council and our group soundly reject and condemn ANY hate-filled messages and any inference to discrimination of any form to any particular person or group.
“To our Jewish neighbors, be assured that as a group, Berkeley will arise collectively to reject anti-Semitic messages and all types of hate speech,” the council’s assertion continued. “The Berkeley Metropolis Council stands united in our zero-tolerance place towards all types of hate speech in our metropolis.”
Police decried the fliers, apparently left randomly at an unspecified variety of houses, and mentioned they'd vigorously examine their distribution in the identical means it has pursued different hate-crime investigations. Authorities reminded residents that as a part of a “United In opposition to Hate” marketing campaign, residents or retailers could decide up a “We Stand United In opposition to Hate” posters at any Berkeley Hearth Division station.
On Tuesday, Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin mentioned the town council would vote on adopting a decision condemning the flyers and restating its opposition to hate, bias and discrimination.
“From antisemitism to incidents concentrating on minority communities, against the law towards one in all us is against the law towards all of us, and Berkeley won't ever tolerate hate in any kind in any way,” Arreguín mentioned partly. “Berkeley is the birthplace of a global motion towards hate and racism, referred to as United In opposition to Hate.
“It is a metropolis that may at all times stand for inclusion, tolerance, and love, and we are going to at all times stand with our neighbors as a united group when incidents to stop and reply to incidents like these not too long ago concentrating on the Jewish group. These had been cowardly acts which can be a perversion of our shared values, and they are going to be met by a group that's actually united towards hate.”
A part of the textual content of a draft of the decision meant for the council’s consent calendar asserts that “right-wing extremists had been linked to 26 of 29 extremist-related murders within the U.S. in 2021 and have been chargeable for 75% of such murders within the final ten years, based on new knowledge from the Anti-Defamation League. In line with the FBI’s 2020 report on hate crimes, there was a 13% improve in hate crimes in comparison with 2019, together with a 76% improve in hate crimes towards Asian Individuals.”
Anybody with info or doable surveillance digicam footage could name Berkeley police at 510-981-5900.
Contact George Kelly at 408-859-5180.