Chicago, IL – Police are investigating after antisemitic messages were found in Chicago and in a western suburb this weekend.
La Grange Park police are asking for the public’s help finding the person or people responsible for handing out, what they call, antisemitic flyers.
Police said some residents, west of La Grange Road, found the flyers outside their homes this weekend.
Similar flyers have been distributed in Elmhurst. And, on Friday, several pro-Israel yard signs had been torn out and ripped apart in suburban Skokie. Footage captured by doorbell cameras showed three people stealing and ripping up the signs at about 3:30 a.m. Friday.
Police are asking residents to check their security cameras to see if there’s any video of those responsible.
Congressman Jesus “Chuy” Garcia condemned this type of activity in his district, saying, in part, “I condemn this disgusting display of antisemitism. My Jewish constituents deserve to live in safety and without fear of intimidation or violence.”
Antisemitic notes were left also on several vehicles in Jefferson Park on Sunday morning.
At about 8:30 a.m., officers who responded to a call in the 5400 block of West Wilson Avenue found cardboard signs with antisemitic messages on several parked vehicles, Chicago police said.
No arrests have been made.
In Hickory Hills, police were investigating a hate crime after a Palestinian family in the southwest suburb received a letter threatening to “burn” them last week.
Lila Gaber, a Muslim Palestinian American, put a sign in her yard that reads “Free Palestine” after the conflict escalated between Israeli and Hamas forces last month, leading to thousands of civilian deaths.
She received a letter addressed to “resident” that read: “THIS IS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NOT PALESTINE!!!!!!! REMOVE THE SIGN FROM THE LAWN OR B U R N.”
In early October, a report released by the Anti-Defamation League detailed that racist propaganda and antisemitic acts more than doubled last year in Illinois.
The report, titled “Hate in the Prairie State,” provided a comprehensive list of radical forces targeting Illinois, including white supremacist groups, anti-LGBTQ+ zealots and adherents of the QAnon conspiracy theory, which supports former President Donald Trump.
