The flyers were distributed in Squirrel Hill and Shadyside. The matter is being investigated by Pittsburgh police and the FBI.
Over the weekend, a group of people in the Pittsburgh area distributed flyers that targeted minority groups with a focus on the Jewish community.
Pittsburgh police and the FBI are working with the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh to identify the individuals that distributed the flyers.
Police said they are investigating several reports of the flyers being found in the Squirrel Hill and Shadyside areas. A witness confirmed that similar flyers were discovered in Peters Township, Washington County.
On Sunday, resident Michele Feingold found one of the flyers on her property inside a plastic sandwich bag filled with kernels of corn. She said some of her neighbors found similar flyers that targeted Jews in the neighborhood.
“There’s so much ignorance and so much hatred. I’m not surprised by it. I’m never surprised by it, and in a sense, we’re sort of used to it, but we’ll never get used to it, because who wants to?” Feingold said in a recent interview.
Shawn Brokos, Director of Community Security at the Jewish Federation, said more than 100 flyers were found in the city. The flyers were targeted towards several minority groups, but the Jewish community was the main focus.
The flyers included antisemitic, racist, anti-immigrant, and anti-LGBTQ+ messages.
“The vehicle was driving around, windows down. They were shouting antisemitic comments out the window, throwing these flyers in front of people,” Brokos said. Police officers searched the area but were unable to locate a suspect.
Brokos said the people responsible for distributing the flyers are affiliated with a white supremacist organization.
“They’re not known to be violent, but they very much want to have that shocking effect, and harass and intimidate people,” Brokos said.
Brokos believes the group was driving a tan Dodge Durango with Ohio license plates, according to surveillance photos from Squirrel Hill and Peters Township.
Mayor Ed Gainey released a statement, saying “the materials that were distributed in parts of Squirrel Hill today are reprehensible and have no place in Pittsburgh.” Anyone with information about the flyers is asked to contact Pittsburgh police.
