Lynchburg, VA – Families in a Lynchburg neighborhood are dealing with some hateful flyers that were left at their homes.
Neighbors along Surrey Place and Surrey Lane say they found the flyers on their driveways on Sunday morning.
The messages are hitting some pretty hard.
“Some people might think this is just a piece of paper. So, what’s the big deal? But, I am concerned that in our society now, the rhetoric has gotten so out of hand,” said Gillette.
Gillette is also a former Mayor of Lynchburg.
The antisemitic flyers say things like: Disney child grooming is Jewish, Every single aspect of the Ukraine-Russia war is Jewish, Every single aspect of the media is Jewish and more.
“The conspiratorial thinking has gotten so out of hand. It is being revved up, even by elected officials. It’s being used in a way, that’s very dangerous, that I think it’s not difficult to imagine that, someone out there sees this sort of stuff and gets ignited and activated and it can result in truly dangerous activity,” said Gillette.
The fine print on the flyers reads “they were distributed without malicious intent” but no one who lives in this neighborhood buys that.
“I also know that where this has been happening in other parts of the country, they have often targeted Jewish neighborhoods. And, the Jewish population in Lynchburg isn’t that large,” said Gillette.
Gillette went on to say he believes the flyers were left at random.
ABC13 got a chance to ask Lynchburg Police Chief Ryan Zuidema about this.
Zuidema tells ABC13 that there have been several reports filed recently and that they’re working to determine the motive behind them.
The investigation is ongoing.
