Carmichael residents find bags with printed swastikas and ‘Aryan Nation’ outside homes
Several residents in a Carmichael neighborhood found disturbing packages with a Nazi swastika outside their homes this week and a nearby school playground, Sacramento County sheriff’s officials said.
On Tuesday, several residents called dispatchers to report the upsetting bags they found in the Carmichael Colony Neighborhood, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office announced in a news release Wednesday afternoon.
Residents at 10 homes each described a plastic food storage bag with rice inside and a leaflet that had a swastika and the words “Aryan Nation,” according to the Sheriff’s Office.
The Carmichael Colony Neighborhood is located south of Stanley Avenue and east of Fair Oaks Boulevard and includes Ancil Hoffman Park and Deterding Elementary School.
Sheriff’s officials said someone placed each of the storage bags on the front step of more than 10 homes near California Avenue and Palm Drive. Other bags were Bags in the Deterding Elementary playground.
Deputies investigated the scene at several locations, interviewed residents who found the bags and canvassed the neighborhood and found security camera video footage. The Sheriff’s Office did not indicate whether anything relevant to the investigation was spotted in the video.
Crime scene investigators collected evidence at the scene. The Sheriff’s Office said there was no suspect information or further details about the investigation available Wednesday.
Sheriff’s detectives and the U.S. Office of Homeland Security were investigating the incidents.
The FBI Sacramento Field Office on Wednesday launched local efforts as part of a nationwide FBI campaign to increase awareness of hate crimes and encourage victims and witnesses to report these crimes to law enforcement.
“No member of our community, regardless of background or immigration status, should be victimized by bias-motivated threats or violence,” Special Agent in Charge Sean Ragan of the FBI Sacramento Field Office said in a news release. “When those crimes do occur, they deserve response and action.”
The FBI Sacramento Field Office placed print ads in several locally-owned publications and placed Spanish-language radio public service ads throughout the office’s 34-county area of responsibility in partnership with the California Broadcasters Association.
A federal hate crime is a criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, national origin, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity. The FBI says hate crimes are a high priority for its agents because of the “intended, devastating impact such crimes have on entire communities,” according to the news release.
Detectives asked anyone with information about the Carmichael incidents to call the Sheriff’s Office at 916-874-8477 or Sheriff’s Communication Center at 916-874-5115. Tips can also be submitted through the Sheriff’s Office online tip form.
Victims and witnesses of hate crimes are encouraged to report the crime to the FBI by calling 1-800-225-5324 or submitting a tip online at tips.fbi.gov. Tips there can be submitted confidentially.
