More than 50 antisemitic flyers were distributed in a West Palm Beach neighborhood Saturday afternoon, which is the second time hateful messages have been distributed in this neighborhood in less than two months.
Five people face multiple citations for the antisemitic messages distributed on Saturday.
People in this neighborhood in the northeast section of West Palm Beach say they were shocked and appalled to see these antisemitic, hate-filled messages.
"It was disgusting, it was vile, it was clearly antisemitic, clearly has no place in the Old Northwood neighborhood. It’s not what we’re about in this neighborhood and it’s not what we stand for,” said Kathy.
"It is outrageous to think that somebody out there is going to go out there and throw things and try to deliver a hateful message,” said Victor Alcantara of the Northwood Shores neighborhood, which was also targeted on Saturday.
Antisemitic flyers have been distributed in the Northwood Shores neighborhood of West Palm Beach. @WestPalmPD says 100 homes were targeted, 5 men were cited and they yelled racial slurs at officers as they were receiving citations.
— Steve King WPBF (@WPBF_Steve) March 12, 2023
Hear from neighbors tonight on @WPBF25News pic.twitter.com/jJooA3Seuc
The flyers came in plastic bags, weighed down by pellets. Among the hate-filled messages were statements against a proposed bill to expand hate-crime penalties in Florida.
NGO StopAntisemitism warned Florida residents of The Goyim Defense League’s (GDL) leader, Jon Minadeo II’s plan to distribute antisemitic flyers to protest the bill combating antisemitic literature from being littered around the state. The bill would also make it illegal to project imagery or phrases onto buildings without permission.
Under the new legislation, those caught distributing antisemitic flyers like GDL has over the past nearly 5 years will be charged with a felony.
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) March 9, 2023
More on HB269 here: https://t.co/z74LbBnWN3
Police say the five men who did this used a U-Haul pickup truck. They were all found and all have received multiple citations, including for littering and pedestrian violations.
Investigators say the men also yelled racial slurs at the officers as they were receiving citations.
"We certainly have no place for hate in West Palm Beach," said Mike Jachles, the public information officer with the West Palm Beach Police Department. "This is a welcoming city. It’s a diverse city and the message is if they want to do something like this do it somewhere else or don’t do it at all, actually, so we will enforce the laws that are on the books."
The men who received citations are 60-year-old David Young Kim of West Palm Beach, 40-year-old Jon Eugene Minadeo of West Palm Beach, 57-year-old Jeffrey Kidder Allen of Wisconsin, 46-year-old Brian Keith Hulliger of Bradenton, and 33-year-old Nicholas Allen Bysheim of Maryland. Kim and Minadeo do not live in the Old Northwood neighborhood.
Nicholas Bysheim is currently working through the legal issues from his arrest in November of 2022. Bysehim has been unable to find an attorney to represent him for an additional littering citation he received in January of this year. Bysheim, who goes by the name ‘Jehu’ has assisted Jon Minadeo II in several of these antisemitic missions.
Bysheim has also participated in antisemitic GDL campaigns in Texas both Maryland
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) January 24, 2023
He was also involved in the “Hitler was right” and swastika light projection on NYE in Orlando, FL pic.twitter.com/XjHpOTMahL
The West Palm Beach Police Department says they could be able to give the men responsible more citations if more people here in the Old Northwood neighborhood come forward and tell the department what they know. The department can be reached at 561-822-1900.
The West Palm Beach Police Department is working with the Palm Beach County state attorney in this investigation.