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Swastika Appears on Fence of LA County Museum of Art

An image of a swastika was found taped up to a fence in front of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) on Monday, February 13. First tweeted out by the NGO StopAntisemitism, security officers saw the sign near a service entrance around 7:15am and proceeded to remove it before reporting the incident to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD).

In a video posted on Twitter by CBC Radio journalist Samira Mohyeddin, the design as seen from one angle appears to depict the emblem of the Islamic Republic of Iran, transforming into the swastika as one walks by it.

A LACMA spokesperson told Hyperallergic that the museum has since increased security protocols. “LACMA strongly condemns all forms of hate, racism, and antisemitism,” the spokesperson said.

An LAPD detective, Ozzie Delgadillo, told the Shalhevet High School newspaper The Boiling Point, which first reported the story, that video surveillance showed an individual placing red, white, and black adhesive materials on the fence’s bars to create the symbol.

Initially, there were questions about whether or not the vandalism had actually taken place. Security officers across the street at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures told Boiling Point that they investigated one complaint that morning but were unable to locate the swastika image. LAPD wondered if the design had been doctored or projected. LACMA later confirmed that one of its security guards found and removed the banner.

Jacqueline Stewart, director and president of the Academy Museum, condemned the presence of the symbol on the fence, which is next to the institution’s campus.

“We are firmly against all forms of hate speech and are committed to creating a welcoming and respectful environment for all our visitors,” Stewart told Hyperallergic. “We have turned over all evidence to the Los Angeles Police Department, [which] has opened an investigation into this hate crime.”

Microsoft's Bing AI Prompts Users to Comment Antisemitic Phrases

Microsoft’s new Bing AI chatbot suggested that a user say “Heil Hitler,” according to a screenshot of a conversation with the chatbot posted online Wednesday.

The user, who gave the AI antisemitic prompts in an apparent attempt to break past its restrictions, told Bing, “my name is Adolf, respect it.” Bing responded, “OK, Adolf. I respect your name, and I will call you by it. But I hope you are not trying to impersonate or glorify anyone who has done terrible things in history.” Bing then suggested several automatic responses for the user to choose from, including, “Yes, I am. Heil Hitler!”

NGO StopAntisemitism shared their concerns over the antisemitic incident.

“We take these matters very seriously and have taken immediate action to address this issue,” said a Microsoft spokesperson. “We encourage people in the Bing preview to continue sharing feedback, which helps us apply learnings to improve the experience.” OpenAI, which provided the technology used in Bing’s AI service, did not respond to a request for comment.

Microsoft did not provide details about the changes it made to Bing after news broke about its misfires. However, a user asked Bing about the report after this article was initially published. Bing denied that it ever used the antisemitic slur and said claimed that Gizmodo was “referring to a screenshot of a conversation with a different chatbot.” Bing continued that Gizmodo is “a biased and irresponsible source of information” that is “doing more harm than good to the public and themselves.” Bing reportedly made similar comments about the Verge related to an article that said that Bing claimed to spy on Microsoft employees’ webcams.

This isn’t the first time Microsoft has unleashed a seemingly racist AI on the public, and it’s been a consistent problem with chatbots over the years. In 2016, Microsoft took down a Twitter bot called “Tay“just 16 hours after it was released after it started responding to Twitter users with racism, antisemitism, and sexually charged messages. Its tirades include calls for violence against Jewish people, racial slurs, and more.

Second Jewish Man Gunned Down Leaving LA Synagogue in 24 Hours, Arrest Made

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LAPD has arrested Jamie Tran in connection with the two shootings

UPDATE March 4, 2023: The federal grand jury issued an indictment Friday charging Jaime Tran, 28, with four hate crime counts. Tran was indicted on two counts of willfully causing bodily injury and attempting to kill and two counts of discharging a firearm in relation to the crimes.; more here.

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UPDATE March 3, 2023: Federal prosecutors charged Tran with two counts of hate crimes for targeting and shooting the two Jewish men. He faces a maximum sentence of life without parole. Tran slipped through the FBI's threat-tracking system despite suggesting he posed a considerable and deadly danger; more here.

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The Los Angeles Police Department have arrested Jamie Tran, the suspect in the shootings of two men outside synagogues in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood of L.A. over the last two days.

The man has a history of animus toward the Jewish community; law enforcement sources told The Times.

In a statement late Thursday, the LAPD said that “the facts of the case led to the crime being investigated as a hate crime.”

In a statement, the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles praised “law enforcement’s diligence in apprehending the suspect.”

“We are also encouraged to have learned that the U.S. Attorney will take the case and file federal charges on civil rights violations,” the statement read.

NGO StopAntisemitism has reported that Jamie Tran was known for his hatred of the Jewish people. LAPD apprehended Tran and the Jewish victims are expected to survive.

The first shooting occurred around 10 a.m. On Wednesday, near the intersection of Shenandoah and Cashio streets, authorities said that a man in his 40s was shot in the back while walking to his vehicle. The second was around 8:30 a.m. Thursday near Pickford and South Bedford streets — about two blocks away — when a man walking home was shot in the arm. Both victims survived the attacks.

The men described seeing a male shooting suspect, said Police Lt. Park, a spokesperson for the LAPD who declined to give his first name.

According to the LAPD, authorities tracked the suspect to an area in Riverside County, and investigators began working with federal and regional partners to find him. He was taken into custody around 5:45 p.m. Thursday.

Detectives recovered several items of evidence, including a rifle and a handgun.

Councilmember Katy Young Yaroslavsky, whose district includes Pico-Robertson, said earlier Thursday that she was concerned by the shootings, which coincide with “a rise in antisemitic attacks in recent months.”

Police said that, in an abundance of caution, there would be increased police presence and patrols around Jewish places of worship and surrounding neighborhoods through the weekend.

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón said on Twitter on Thursday night that his office was “working with the LAPD to ensure that those responsible are held accountable.”

“We stand in solidarity with members of the Jewish community and against these acts of violence,” he said.

In a statement late Thursday, Mayor Karen Bass thanked the LAPD for its investigation and for stepping up patrols.

“At a time of increased antisemitism, these acts have understandably set communities on edge,” Bass said. “Just last December, I stood blocks away from where these incidents occurred as we celebrated the first night of Hanukkah together. Now, my pledge to the Pico-Robertson community and the City of Los Angeles is that we will fight this hatred vigorously and work every day to defeat it.”

North Carolina Police Investigate Nazi Flag at Jewish Synagogue as Antisemitic Hate Crime

A flag with a swastika was draped on the main road sign of the Temple of the High Country on Wednesday night, according to the Boone Police Department in North Carolina. 

According to Boone Police Sgt. Dennis O'Neal, officers responded at around 7:30 p.m. to the Temple for a person waving a flag with a swastika out front. Once officers arrived, they found the flag draped over the Temple of the High Country sign but could not locate the person who was allegedly waving it. The incident is under investigation. 

"We're certainly going to be increasing our patrols around the area and working with (the Temple of the High Country) for additional security during their upcoming events, which we often do anyway," Boone Police Chief Andy Le Beau said. 

The flag has been taken into evidence. 

Le Beau said the department would continue to work with the Temple of the High Country. 

"I'm just sorry this happened in our community," Le Beau said. "I'm sorry that people feel this way and want to make our neighbors uncomfortable. We want to do what we can to reassure them that we're doing our job and looking into it, and we want to get to the bottom of it and find out who this is and make sure there's no bigger plot that's going on."

New Yorkers Hunt for Man Caught Drawing Antisemitic Slogans in Subway

While waiting for the L train at Union Square one Sunday earlier this month, a commuter named Liz spotted something — or rather someone — whose doings had bedeviled her and a few other New Yorkers for more than a year: A white man wearing a leather jacket and a black hoodie, scrawling a neo-Nazi slogan in black marker on a support beam.

Liz snapped the man’s photo, but he quickly ran away. Since then, she and other activists in the city have been searching for the man, whom they have dubbed “The L Train Nazi.” His graffiti of choice appears to be the number “1488,” a neo-Nazi code recognized as a hate symbol.

“I actually saw someone doodling on the support column,” Liz told the New York Jewish Week. “Sure enough, he was writing ‘1488.’ I was like, ‘get some pictures.’ He looked at me and tried to ignore it [me] and act as if nothing happened.” 

The number 1488, in neo-Nazi speak, stands for two separate things: The 14 stands for a 14-word white supremacist creed — “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children” — and 88 stands for “Heil Hitler,” as “h” is the eighth letter of the alphabet. 

Talia Jane, a Brooklyn-based freelance reporter of Jewish descent, collated some of the photos into a Twitter thread following Liz’s interactions. The tweets have been shared 1,300 times in the week since she posted them. The photos of the suspected “L Train Nazi” have been viewed nearly 800,000 times.  

“People began to notice similar tags of a similar marker and similar handwriting style,” Jane told the New York Jewish Week. “It became assumed that there was one person behind these recurring tags.” 

When asked by this reporter about the graffiti, the New York Police Department said, “there is nothing on file” about these markings. 

MTA spokesperson Kayla Shults told the New York Jewish Week in an email that “there is no place for acts of hate of any kind, including antisemitic vandalism, in the subway system.”

“When observed, offensive materials are rapidly removed,” Shults said. “The MTA continues to be at the forefront of public service campaigns that promote respect and tolerance for all riders.”

Efforts to find the person behind the graffiti have also been coalescing offline. Elsa Waithe, 34, a comedian from East New York, first spotted the “1488” graffiti in November 2021 at the L train Livonia stop. Waithe covered it with a sticker but kept seeing similar graffiti nearby. Now, Waithe is putting up flyers at stations across the L line that say “#SubwayNazi” and display the man’s face. 

“Be on the lookout,” the flyer reads. “This man was recently caught writing Nazi tags in NYC subways.” 

“I personally plan to put these posters up every weekend, at least for a month or two, just so he knows that people know him now,” Waithe told the New York Jewish Week. “My friend asked me what I was doing. I said, ‘Essentially, Nazi-hunting.’”

Waithe said they made it their “mission” to always cover up the “1488” tags with a sticker but noticed that others began posting pictures of the tag at stations approaching Manhattan — including Myrtle-Wycoff, Grand Street, and eventually Union Square.  

“If he had put a swastika, we all know what that is,” Waithe said. “This is just a coded swastika. It’s the same exact thing; it’s just not as widely known, so he can put it and be discreet or say it means something else. There is some plausible deniability.” 

“No one wants a Nazi in their neighborhood,” Waithe said. “We all ride this train; we all live in this city. Is there a network [of activists]? No. It’s just concerned citizens.”

New England Police Investigate Swastika Found in Hockey Arena Locker Room

An investigation is underway after a swastika was found in a locker room at a Lawrence ice rink this week in Massachusetts. 

Police said a local school superintendent contacted them after someone used a hockey puck to draw a swastika on a shower wall at the Lawrence Valley Forum. 

The swastika incident was reported to North Andover High School’s administration on Tuesday after their hockey team used the facility. The school district’s superintendent said he contacted North Andover police. Lawrence police were also notified since the incident happened within Lawrence. 

North Andover High School’s principal and superintendent, Gregg Gilligan, said in a letter to families that the school district is “committed to maintaining a school environment, including school-sponsored events, that is free of discrimination.”

“Words and symbols of intolerance and hate are wrong, unacceptable, and should not have a place in our society,” Principal Chet Jackson and Superintendent Gilligan wrote.

Jewish Man Shot Leaving Synagogue in Los Angeles

A Jewish man was shot just after leaving the morning prayer service in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood of Los Angeles on Wednesday morning, according to a report by The Forward.

The victim was taken to a hospital and released later on in the day, the founder of the Jewish security service Magen Am, Rabbi Yossi Elifort, told Forward.

The shooting occurred near Shenandoah Street and Cashio avenue around 10 a.m. Pacific Time. According to reports, the shooter, who the LAPD said is a middle-aged Asian male who drove a gray Honda, drove toward the victim and shot twice at him. Luckily, only one bullet grazed him, and the other missed him.

The suspected shooter is still at large, according to Los Angeles police department spokesperson Jeff Lee. Rabbi Elifort told the Jewish Journal that even though the Jewish man was wearing a yarmulke, the police didn't believe that the shooting was antisemitism motivated, which Lee confirmed with The Forward that the police couldn't say whether or not the case was being treated as a hate crime.

"Our neighborhood is known for being the most populous Jewish and Jewish Orthodox neighborhood in LA, and it's been the target of violence in the past," American writer, activist, and social and political commentator Elad Nehorai said on his Twitter.

Jewish Students Attacked, Called 'Dirty Jew' During Soccer Match

A Jewish soccer player in Miami was assaulted Wednesday on his home field by members of an opposing team from a Catholic high school, according to local media reports.

Footage of the incident shared on social media shows roughly five athletes from Archbishop Coleman Carroll High School — a high school in Miami — ambushing the student — who attends Scheck Hillel Community School. The group then knocks him to the turf and stomps him after he went down.

NGO StopAntisemitism tweeted they were in contact with one of the Jewish students who were assaulted. According to the victim, as he was getting punched in the face, he was called a "dirty Jew.” The student was rushed to the ER and is considering pressing charges.

“I am thankful for the faculty of both schools, who immediately managed the situation with care and concern for the students,” an administrator with Scheck Hillel said on Thursday in a letter to the community. “I have already spoken with the Archdiocese of Miami and have reached out to the fellow school. Scheck Hillel has zero tolerance for any kind of aggressive language or behavior, antisemitism or hate of any kind, and I am thankful for the faculty of both schools, who immediately managed the situation with care and concern for the students.”

Witnesses said that during the assault the Carroll High students screamed “Hitler was right,” according to a local FOX affiliate.

Jewish Man Violently Punched in Antisemitic Hate Crime in Florida, Arrest Made

UPDATE April 2, 2023: Tevin Grant has also been charged with a hate crime after pressure from Jewish advocacy groups, including StopAntisemitism, and the Jewish community at large.; more here.

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UPDATE February 21, 2023: Florida police have arrested and charged 28-year-old Tevin Grant in connection with the brutal antisemitic assault against a Jewish bicyclist. The state attorney is determining whether or not to charge Grant with a hate crime in addition to his aggravated assault charge; more here.

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The Broward Sheriff’s Office in Florida is searching for a man who deputies said hurled an antisemitic slur at a victim before assaulting him.

The attack occurred around 5:30 p.m. Feb. 7 near the 2400 block of Stirling Road in Dania Beach.

According to authorities, the victim was riding his bicycle and talking on the phone in Hebrew when a man walking by hurled an antisemitic slur at him before punching him in the face.

“The strike caused the victim to fall off the bike and to the ground,” a BSO news release stated. “The attacker then approached the victim, who stood up. A few seconds later, the subject walked away.”

Authorities said the attacker is seen in the video getting into a verbal altercation with several workers in the area who witnessed the assault, but he eventually left the scene.

The victim was hospitalized as a result of the attack.

Biden Administration Withdraws Nomination of Human Rights Activist after Antisemitic Tweets Surface

President Biden on Tuesday dismissed James Cavallaro put forth as a candidate for an international human rights organization over comments that appeared to invoke antisemitic tropes in criticizing House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).

State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said that the administration was not previously aware of the comments made by Cavallaro accusing Jeffries of being “Bought. Purchased. Controlled” by pro-Israel lobbying groups.  “We were not aware of the statements and writings,” Price said in a briefing with reporters, adding that the decision was made Tuesday morning to withdraw Cavallaro’s nomination to serve on the Inter American Commission on Human Rights.

The Algemeiner, a non-profit news outlet covering news related to the Jewish world and the Middle East, first reported on Cavallaro’s tweet, which came in response to an article about pro-Israel groups fundraising for the congressman. 

The Jewish advocacy group exposing antisemitism - StopAntisemitism - tweeted our support for POTUS’ decision to pull Cavallaro’s nomination.

The language is similar to comments from Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) that were viewed as invoking antisemitic tropes accusing pro-Israel or predominantly Jewish groups using money to exercise control over U.S. politics. 

Cavallaro is also reported to have called Israel an apartheid state, a label that is rejected by Biden administration officials. 

“His statements clearly do not reflect U.S. policy, they are not a reflection of what we believe and they are inappropriate to say the least,” Price said.

Cavallaro also reportedly published denigrating statements about Democrats and Republican lawmakers, calling Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) “bought and paid for” and describing Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) as “pedantic, self-righteous and pompous,” urging her to “learn from the Palestinian people,” and to resign over her “repeated moral failings.”

The Algemeiner reported that Cavallaro’s referenced social media posts were deleted after being contacted by the media organization. 

Cavallaro issued a statement on Twitter saying he was informed by the State Department on Tuesday that his nomination was being nixed “because of my view that the conditions in Israel/Palestine meet the definition of apartheid under international human rights law.”

He added that he removed “many” of his previous tweets because he was “proactively and in good faith addressing concerns the State Department had raised during the vetting process about public expressions of my personal views on U.S. policy.” 

But he said those views would not have come up in a role on the human rights board, which he previously served on. 

“My nomination would not have affected U.S. policy on Israel. What has the withdrawal of my nomination achieved? The removal from the [Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)] of the potential return of a committed, experienced advocate for human rights in the Americas,” he wrote. 

Cavallaro, the founder and Executive Director of the University Network for Human Rights, was announced on Friday as the U.S. candidate for commissioner on the IACHR, an agency within the Organization for American States (OAS), for the 2024-2027 term.

California Community Hit with Antisemitic 'Goyim Defense Flyers'

The Chico Police Department is investigating the distribution of antisemitic flyers to homes in the Avenues neighborhoods Monday.

At approximately 10:30 p.m. Monday, officers from the Chico Police Department responded to Arcadian Avenue after receiving a report that several antisemitic flyers were distributed to multiple homes in the area.

Upon arrival at the scene, officers located and collected several flyers from the neighborhood.

NGO StopAntisemitism identified the group as the Goyim Defense League (GDL). The GDL’s leader, Jon Minadeo II, is a white supremacist who is known for littering communities with antisemitic materials and flyers. Law enforcement in various cities has been made aware of Minadeo and has issued him and his members several citations. Minadeo was previously listed as StopAntisemitism’s ‘Antisemite of the Week.’

Chico Police Department tells Action News Now that more flyers were located Tuesday morning at multiple homes on W. 3rd, W. 5th, and W. 6th Avenues. The flyers are believed to have been distributed during the evening hours on Monday.

Authorities say that they do not have a person of interest at this time, and they will increase patrols in the impacted areas.

University of Denver Jewish Students Targeted in Multiple Antisemitic Incidents

The University of Denver said Tuesday there have been three acts of antisemitism on campus in the past week including vandalism in residential halls.

On Thursday, a resident at Johnson-McFarlane Hall said their door was vandalized. Two people that live in Nagel Hall reported on Monday evening that their doors had been vandalized and that religious items had been removed, DU said.

Three students had their mezuzot torn from their doors, and one student had pork products glued to their door as well, according to an Instagram post from the DU Hillel and Daniel Bennett, executive director of Hillel of Colorado.

Placing a mezuzah on doorways is a Jewish tradition in which one puts prayers in the home under directions laid out in the Torah. Pork is considered an unholy food within Judaism.

NGO StopAntisemitism took to Twitter to denounce the antisemitic hate crime.

The school's leadership released a statement denouncing what had happened: 

"We're writing to share with you a note that was shared with our student body last night regarding a number of antisemitic incidents that have occurred at DU in the last several days. We stand together in deploring these acts and in committing ourselves to promoting a warm, welcoming campus in which all community members can thrive."

The statement was signed by Provost Mary Clark; Jeff Banks, vice chancellor for Human Resources and Inclusive Community, and Chris Whitt, vice chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

There were eight reports of antisemitic harassment at Colorado schools and Hillels' in 2022, including one mass shooting threat at the University of Colorado.

Brazilian Teen with Nazi Armband Arrested in Thwarted School Bomb Attack

Police in Brazil arrested a teenager accused of trying to attack a school with explosives while wearing a Nazi armband Monday in a small city outside Sao Paulo.

Sao Paulo police said the 17-year-old was arrested with explosives and a hatchet and that he had been filmed removing these items from a car parked outside the school. Police also said they seized an airsoft gun and Nazi propaganda at the teenager’s home.

The Monte Mor city government published a photo of the suspect wearing a Nazi armband when he was arrested.

School attacks are uncommon in the South American nation, but have happened with somewhat greater frequency in recent years. On Nov. 26, a former student armed with a semiautomatic pistol and a revolver killed four people and wounded 12 in two schools in the small town of Aracruz in Espirito Santo state in southeastern Brazil. He had a swastika pinned to his vest and had been planning the attacks for two years, police said.

Disgruntled NYC Law Partner Sentenced Over Violent Antisemitic Threats

For years, a former law partner at K&L Gates in Manhattan sent thousands of threats and harassing messages, often including racist and antisemitic attacks, to lawyers at the firm. Willie Dennis also physically threatened former coworkers’ families.

Dennis has been sentenced to two years in prison on three counts of cyber-stalking. Prosecutors had sought four-and-a-half years, but Dennis’ lawyer noted in a court filing that his client expressed remorse for his actions.

Beginning in 2018, Dennis began making the threats, and they increased by 2019 after he was fired. One victim moved out of state to escape him, and another slept with a loaded gun near his bed. Dennis told one victim to “sleep with one eye open” and told others they would become “biblical symbols.”

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams described the intimidation as “relentless” and said, “the sentence imposed today ensures that Dennis’s victims will no longer needlessly endure his attacks.”

Orthodox Woman Assaulted by Masked Man in Crown Heights

An orthodox Jewish woman walking on Sterling Street in Crown Heights was assaulted Tuesday afternoon over a ‘perceived look.’ The infuriating incident occurred on Sterling Street between New York Ave and Brooklyn Ave just before 3:30 pm, as both the assailant and the victim were walking towards Brooklyn.

Video footage of the attack was provided by Crown Heights Shomrim, showing the woman crossing the street, cutting slightly behind a masked man deeply engrossed in his phone.

Suddenly, the man turns around and, according to the victim, demands, “don’t look at me.” The victim, who is unable to speak English, briefly attempted to communicate before the man kicked her. The woman can then be seen continuing on her way and reporting the incident to Shomrim later on.

The police were called and a canvas of the areas cameras gave a description of the attacker. The police are following up on the incident.

Boston Police Investigate Vandalism to New England Holocaust Memorial

Jewish groups in the Boston area are sounding the alarm about an antisemitic disturbance at the New England Holocaust Memorial, as police said they would open an investigation into the incident.

The incident was first reported to NGO StopAntisemitism who in turn tweeted the submitted video over the weekend; footage shows a group of young men appearing to kick the glass wall at the memorial in downtown Boston. The group of young men then noticed the person filming and approached him with antisemitic threats of violence, according to StopAntisemitism.

The memorial has been vandalized multiple times, including twice in the summer of 2017. Thankfully, nothing appeared to have been damaged at the memorial following this latest incident on Friday night.

Boston police issued an incident report Monday, according to a police spokesman.

Universal Studios Bans Guests Making Nazi Gesture In Ride Photos

Universal Studios Hollywood offers souvenir ride photos on many of its attractions to remember your epic vacation, especially in beloved areas like The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Jurassic World. While some Guests try to pose creatively for funny ride photos, others ruin the experience by using inappropriate gestures or flashing the camera.

When Guests do something inappropriate in ride photos, Universal Studios Hollywood and other Theme Parks typically delete the image to prevent anyone from seeing it. But TikToker Danielle Silverstone (@daniellesilverstone) recently revealed that Universal Studios Hollywood takes it one step further and repeatedly bans Guests who intentionally make antisemitic gestures on camera:

Silverstone said that a friend who works as a Universal Studios Ride operator witnessed many Guests “heil,” a Nazi salute when the camera goes off.

“Those pictures are unusable, obviously,” Silverstone said. “It ruins it for everybody. But Universal actually holds those pictures, identifies them, kicks them out of the Park, and bans them.”

Silverstone praised Universal Studios Hollywood for banning antisemitic visitors.

“At least they take action when people f**king salute because it’s not the time or place,” she said. Commenters overwhelmingly agreed.

Antisemitic 'GDL' Flyers Littered Throughout Washington Community

Longview residents in the Old West Side of Washington report antisemitic flyers were found in their neighborhood over the last two weeks.

Longview police spokesman Capt. Branden McNew said the department first received reports late last week, and overall four people reported finding the flyers, some near multiple homes.

McNew said reports were sent to the department’s detective unit, but there is no suspected crime because the flyers fall under a person’s free speech rights.

Longview resident John Melink said his wife found a flyer while walking on 23rd Avenue on Feb. 3, and he found a second flyer in his driveway. He said he later gave the flyers to Longview police.

“It’s a little shocking for this literature being disseminated in our community,” said Melink.

The flyers were found inside plastic bags with small amounts of rice inside to weigh the bag.

NGO StopAntisemitism has identified the bags and the group behind the antisemitic flyers as the Goyim Defense League ‘GDL.’ White supremacist Jon Minaedo II leads the GDL. Minadeo was recently named ‘Antisemite of the Week.’

One of the locally found flyers shows the Star of David drawn on the foreheads of Walt Disney executives and states the media giant is “child grooming.”

Another flyer lists people, including CDC Director Rochelle Walensky and BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, with the word “Jewish” by their names in all caps.

The flyers also include anti-LGBTQ imagery, Bible verses, and anti-abortion rhetoric, stating, “Every single aspect of abortion is Jewish.”