Pikesville, Baltimore, MD – A series of hate mail circulated earlier this week in Pikesville’s Ralston Community. Baltimore County Police told the JT they were aware of the incident.
On Monday, Nov. 12, officers responded to the unit block of Waldron Road where a resident presented them with multiple antisemitic and anti-Israel fliers, which he said were left off on his property. The individual asked police to look into the incident and then to dispose of the fliers, police spokesperson Cpl. Cathleen Batton said.
The fliers, a copy of which the JT obtained from an area resident, consist of a multitude of jumbled statements and assertions that many in the Jewish community feel are both offensive and absurd. The handouts urge the U.S. to “declare war on Israel” and accuse Zionist Jews of plotting the death of non-Jewish people in the country.
“Obviously this is something that is very upsetting to people,” Batton said. “They can throw the fliers away, they can turn them into the police department, [but] there are no criminal violations associated with it at this point.”
Batton added that county police will continue to monitor the situation, and encouraged residents to call authorities with any new information. However, citing first amendment rights and the fact that there have been no reports of trespassing, Batton said that there is no evidence of illegal activity or any suspects.
Several of the fliers reference the name “Peter J. Cojanis” as “commander-in-chief,” inferring that he could be the person – or one of the people—behind their distribution.
“That is a name we are familiar with. This is not the first police report we have connected with that individual,” Batton said.
Baltimore Jewish Council Executive Director Art Abramson has seen this type of content dispersed in the community before. Similar to Batton, he said there isn’t too much you can do aside from reporting the material or ignoring it.
“Bottom line is, this is the kind of typical antisemitic hate literature that gets circulated in largely Jewish neighbors by haters and [those with] sick minds,” Abramson said. “This is the kind of thing that saturates Jewish neighborhoods every once in awhile and I wish we could do more.”
Alan Zukerberg, president of the Pikesville Communities Corporation, which consists of 11 neighborhood associations (including Ralston), was informed of the fliers at a PCC meeting on Tuesday.
He said that while a small portion of people may be influenced by the fliers’ assertions, the majority of educated individuals will be quick to dismiss them as nonsense.
“Jews still have to live under the umbrella of ignorance that other people put over us and that’s why we have to protect ourselves and continue to protect ourselves,” Zukerberg said. “I don’t give any credence to what’s in this package. It’s all cut and pasted. It’s just pure garbage. I would counsel people to not be upset by it, but always be on guard.”
