Residents in a St. Petersburg neighborhood reported that antisemitic flyers were left in their local book exchange boxes.
NGO StopAntisemitism has identified and attributed the antisemitic leaflets to the neo-nazi group, the Goyim Defense League. The league and their leader, Jon Minadeo II, travel the nation dropping these hateful flyers. This is not the first time such materials have been left in neighborhoods in the Tampa Bay area. Last summer, such flyers were left in Hyde Park and South Tampa.
Members of the white supremacist group 'Goyim Defense League' (GDL) target residents of St. Louis Park, MN over the weekend.
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) July 25, 2022
This is the same group with members waving swastika flags and holding up antisemitic signs in Tampa, FL this past Saturday. pic.twitter.com/8JhkyZe6cS
A Jewish resident of the Old Northeast neighborhood of St. Petersburg emailed photos of the flyers to 8 On Your Side Sunday, saying that someone left the documents in a neighbor’s Little Free Library box.
“She was, of course, horrified,” the resident said. “She told me other neighbors with similar LFL boxes were stuffed as well.”
The flyers made various antisemitic claims about prominent Jewish figures in sports and media, as well as Judaism itself.
A spokeswoman with St. Petersburg police confirmed the existence of the fliers, saying officers removed the documents from homes in the area of 13th and 14th Avenue. However, because the flyers did not make any threats nor was any property damaged, police said their placement technically falls under the First Amendment.
St. Petersburg police said they will have directed patrols in the area as a precaution.