Several Carolina Forest neighborhoods woke up to antisemitic flyers lying in their driveways Friday morning.
The Ziploc bags were filled with rice and contained antisemitic propaganda.
The Jewish advocacy group that fights antisemitism - StopAntisemitism - tweeted the Goyim Defense League (or GDL), founded by Jon Minadeo II, was responsible for the antisemitic flyer drops.
White supremacist group 'GDL' - led by Jon Minadeo II - targets South Carolina neighborhoods in their latest hate campaign against Jews
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) December 4, 2022
South Caronlona is 1 of just 2 states that does not have a hate law in place; in 2022 a bill died in the Senate after 5 Senators voted no on it pic.twitter.com/8MCmmkX5sy
People from the West Ridge neighborhood off Singleton Ridge Road and Oakmont Village on River Oaks Drive reached out to the ABC15 newsroom with their concerns.
This is not the first time antisemitic flyers were dispersed in our community, but as of now, nothing has been done to stop it.
Bruce Hindsley lives in Oakmont Village- another neighborhood struck by antisemitic messages.
He said he's disgusted that people would go out of their way to purposely attack someone just because of their religious beliefs.
"That's exactly what they're trying to do- spread chaos and hate and it's very disturbing that there are people out there that are trying to create this kind of atmosphere," he said.
South Carolina is one of two states in the country that doesn't have a hate crime bill. Without the law, there isn't much law enforcement can do about the messages.
South Carolina Rep. Carl Anderson is a supporter of instating a hate crime bill. “I’m very passionate about this bill passing because I see it all the time. I see mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers, grandparents- crying because they have lost a loved one to a hate crime. If we had this bill, something could’ve been done," he said.
Rep. Anderson said he's been fighting for this bill to be passed for several years. He said it died in Senate this year because 5 senators at the state house did not sign on. “Without this bill, we are just looking to receive more people that would hate on other folks.”
If you receive a flyer you can submit an incident report on the county's website; click here.