MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Authorities in Miami Beach are investigating after an antisemitic flyer was distributed throughout the city.
People in several residential neighborhoods woke up Sunday to find the flyers littering the area, including on private property.
The flyers were titled “Every single aspect of the COVID agenda is Jewish” and included a list of employees from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as well as pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna.
In a post on Twitter, Miami Beach police said the department is aware of the flyers and “actively investigating to determine their origin.”
Additionally, police officers are increasing patrols in those neighborhoods, as well as at the city’s religious institutions.
Miami Beach resident Albert Crespo found one of the flyers in his front yard, along with several of his neighbors.
“It’s really sad that people are spreading this hate literature,” Crespo said. “I’m disappointed.”
There were also reports of flyers being found in Surfside and Bal Harbour.
To the garbage that distributed this anti-Semitic flyer around South Florida this weekend: Your flyers DO NOT intimidate us. We are a STRONG and PROUD people. There are Jews on all sides of the political spectrum, but TOGETHER we ALL rise arm-in-arm against you. 🇮🇱 🇺🇸 💪🏼 pic.twitter.com/K5VFbZYO9T
— Mayor Gabriel Groisman (@GabeGroisman) January 23, 2022
“There is no place for hate in our community and it will not be tolerated,” Miami Beach police said in a separate tweet.
MBPD is asking anyone who received one of the flyers to contact them immediately at 305-673-7901.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava also condemned the flyers.
“I call on our entire community to firmly and forcefully condemn this disturbing flyer, and all forms of hateful rhetoric, threats, violence and bigotry that have become increasingly common in our divided society,” Levine Cava said in the Tweet, which can be seen below.
As the Mayor of our beautifully diverse, inclusive and caring community, and the first Jewish Mayor of Miami-Dade County, antisemitism and all acts of hatred and bigotry cut especially close to my heart. https://t.co/OYUwgbOFhJ
— Daniella Levine Cava (@MayorDaniella) January 23, 2022
“We have lived here for 26 years, and this is the first time ever anything like that has ever happened,” said a woman named Cheri.
Cheri captured what she believes is surveillance of the bags being thrown onto her lawn.
Another man, Teig Lawrence, found the same thing, and said, “I couldn’t believe what was in there.”
Added Paul Buechele, who lives on 62nd Street in Miami Beach, “I took one look at it and threw it away.”
“To think that someone took the time to drop a flyer at every house in Miami Beach is … terrible,” Lawrence said.