FAIR OAKS, Calif. — Local and federal law enforcement agencies are investigating a possible hate crime after anti-Jewish fliers showed up on the driveways of five homes in Fair Oaks Monday morning.
The fliers were included in a plastic bag filled with beans, according to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office. A spokesperson declined to name the exact neighborhood within Fair Oaks.
Bruce Pomer, president of the Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region, said hate against any group needs to be taken seriously and needs to be addressed.
“If you’re silent, it’s a de facto way of validating the bad behavior,” Pomer said. “Whenever the opportunity is there, you need to stand in solidarity with the affected group.”
He added that such incidents need to be reported to local law enforcement.
“Any kind of event this like shows that there’s hate out there, and when there’s an expression of hate like this – and discrimination – the potential for violence or for an incident to be very dangerous in this community is apparent. The possibility is there,” he said.
The greater Sacramento area has seen a number of anti-Jewish incidents in recent years, including anti-Semitic vandalism in Folsom back in February, hateful fliers at a Carmichael synagogue and neighborhood last fall and anti-Jewish posters left on an Orangevale temple in 2017. The man accused of the Oct. 2021 crimes was convicted and then sentenced earlier this year.
RELATED (2018): Anti-Semitic flyers found on UC Davis campus
It’s not just anecdotal. The California Attorney General’s 2021 Hate Crime Report, released last month, shows anti-Jewish bias events increased 32% to 152 in 2021, up from 115 reported events in 2020.
State Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) is Vice Chair of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus. He said fliers like the ones found in Fair Oaks Monday have been showing up in recent years at homes across the U.S.
“It's in the context of a significant spike in anti-Semitic hate speech and hate crimes, including violent crimes up to and including shootings at synagogues,” Sen. Wiener said. “So for the Jewish community, it's a very scary time in this country—and, tragically, including California.”
As of Tuesday morning, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office had named no suspect and made no arrest in Monday’s anti-Jewish incident in Fair Oaks. Anyone with information can reach out to the sheriff’s office.
Meanwhile, Sen. Wiener said it’s important for people to support their Jewish friends when something like this happens.
“To check in…and say, ‘Are you okay? What can I do to support you?’ And also to call people out when they make anti-Semitic comments and to make clear that unacceptable,” he said.
WATCH ALSO:
