Residents horrified, angry over antisemitic flyers in east Atlanta neighborhood

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - “I think the best place for those messages are in the trashcan,” said Bryan Davis, a Lake Claire resident.

Horrified and angry is how Bryan Davis feels seeing flyers targeting the Jewish and transgender community in his east Atlanta neighborhood.

“I think we need to start treating people better. And I encourage whoever did this to go out and find a Jewish person, or a Black person, or a gay person and befriend them,” said Davis.

The flyers, which were discovered this past weekend reportedly in the Lake Claire, Candler Park, and Kirkwood neighborhoods, appear to blame Jewish people for the rise of so-called ‘transgenderism,’ call the religion ‘satanic,’ and worse.

Atlanta Police say its Homeland Security Unit is investigating.

At this time, the agency is not aware of any “criminal acts related to the flyers,” but does plan to increase patrols where the flyers were found.

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens posted this statement on social media Monday:

“I am deeply disturbed by reports of hateful material targeting Jewish and trans-people being distributed in our city. Hate has no place in Atlanta. APD is investigating and I will closely monitor.”

In early February, antisemitic flyers were found in Sandy Springs and Dunwoody, some in the front yard of Jewish state representative Esther Panitch.

“It just never ends. We’re being targeted and harassed in an attempt to intimidate us,” Panitch said.

She urged Georgia legislators to pass a bill defining the term ‘antisemitism’ because words can lead to violent acts.

The bill stalled in the State Senate.

For now, Lake Claire homeowner Caroline Joe points out that leaving anonymous, hateful flyers is not only narrow-minded, but it’s also a sign of weakness.

“It’s kind of cowardly actually to just come into a neighborhood and distribute information like that,” Joe said.

Copyright 2023 WANF. All rights reserved.