Antisemitic leaflets railing against federal gun control left at Sacramento County homes
Sacramento County and federal authorities have launched an investigation after residents in the Fair Oaks area on Monday found sandwich bags with antisemitic leaflets railing against federal gun control.
Residents at five homes on Monday morning reported finding the clear plastic bags filled with uncooked beans and the antisemitic leaflets, said Sgt. Rodney Grassmann, a Sacramento County sheriff’s spokesman.
Photos of the leaflets, which were shared on the Nextdoor social media site, show pictures of former and current members of the U.S. Congress, including senators Dianne Feinstein and Chuck Schumer. The leaflets have drawings of the Jewish Star of David on their foreheads.
The leaflets also have a banner title: “Every Single Aspect of Gun Control is Jewish.” Residents in a Carmichael neighborhood just south of Winding Way said they found the same bags with the leaflets.
Bruce Pomer, president of the Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region, said this type of hateful rhetoric permeates through the community and can be a precursor or a catalyst for violence or extremist activity.
“We take this extremely seriously,” Pomer told The Sacramento Bee. “Hate against one group is hate against all groups.”
Similar antisemitic leaflets stuffed in small bags weighted with white rice were left in two Modesto neighborhoods recently, including homes near the Congregation Beth Shalom synagogue. One leaflet had the message: “Every single aspect of the media is Jewish,” while others blamed Jewish people for “every single aspect” of “the COVID agenda,” “massive immigration” and gun control, The Modesto Bee reported.
Pomer said the Jewish Federation received calls reporting the hateful leaflets left at Sacramento County homes this week. He said these incidents can embolden others to replicate the hateful rhetoric.
“That’s why it’s important to speak out against it and stand in solidarity with these (targeted) neighborhoods,” Pomer said.
On Tuesday, Grassmann said investigators had not made any arrests or identified any suspects in connection with the antisemitic leaflets placed outside homes this week. He said the contents in the bags all appear to be the same.
Investigators did not have any evidence linking this week’s leaflets to antisemitic leaflets left at homes, a synagogue and an elementary school in nearby Carmichael last year, Grassmann said, but investigators were looking into it to identify any links.
In March, Nicholas Wayne Sherman was sentenced to 180 days in the Sacramento County Jail for placing antisemitic leaflets at the synagogue and an elementary school in Carmichael last year. Sherman was convicted of a felony charge of desecrating a religious symbol and a misdemeanor charge of terrorism by symbol, according to the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office.
These hate crimes occurred weeks apart in October. Prosecutors said Sherman on Oct. 4 placed plastic food storage bags containing “Aryan Nations” flyers on doorsteps of homes and at nearby Deterding Elementary School in Carmichael.
Sacramento County sheriff’s officials have said the storage bags were found at more than 10 homes near California Avenue and Palm Drive.
Prosecutors said many of the flyers had a hand-drawn swastika on the back or a printed swastika on the front, and investigators found fingerprints on the bags and security camera video that linked Sherman to the crime scene.
On Oct. 20, Sherman taped paper to a menorah and metal fence at the Shalom le Israel Messianic Synagogue with anti-Jewish wording and photos of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Sherman pleaded no contest to the criminal charges, and 11 other misdemeanor charges filed against Sherman were dismissed, according to Sacramento Superior Court records.
Sherman, who had been held at the jail since his Dec. 22 arrest, served 100 days of his 180-day sentence after receiving state and court credits for good behavior while in jail, Grassmann said. Sherman was released to the custody of Santa Cruz County authorities who had an arrest warrant for him, Grassmann said.
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.
This story was originally published July 12, 2022 at 2:12 PM.
