STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Community leaders and Staten Island’s entire bi-partisan elected delegation issued a statement Tuesday condemning anti-Semitic flyers recently posted in New Dorp by a purported white supremacist group that has repeatedly made a presence in the borough.
The Staten Island Hate Crimes Task Force, co-chaired by District Attorney Michael E. McMahon and CEO of the Council of Jewish Organizations on Staten Island Scott Maurer, along with over 50 politicians, police officials and other leaders on the Island condemned the flyers as “despicable.”
“These anti-Semitic postings in New Dorp have no place in our community, and we stand united in our absolute condemnation of this despicable act of hate and bigotry,” said the statement.
“The mission of the Staten Island Hate Crimes Task Force has always been to foster diversity in our borough while working with our local law enforcement, elected officials, and community leaders to prevent and prosecute hate-based crime,” the statement continued. “We continue to be in close contact with the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force over this recent incident and want to reassure Staten Islanders that each one of us remain committed to rooting out this vile hate speech from our communities.”
The flyers, posted by the New Jersey European Heritage Association (NJEHA), propagated anti-Semitic messages, reading, “The original Antifa was a Jewish anti-Nazi militia... There is a war against all non-Jewish European-American nationalists.”
In line with the group’s other propaganda, which an Advance/SILive.com investigation in 2019 revealed was widespread across the borough, the flyers referenced an unsubstantiated conspiracy that white people are facing extinction.
The flyer was posted on a sign for grocery delivery and pick-up at the New Dorp Stop & Shop. (Staten Island Advance/Rebeka Humbrecht)
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has designated NJEHA a white supremacist group.
An ADL study showed that NJEHA, along with two other groups, are responsible for approximately 90% of the distribution of white supremacist propaganda in the United States.
While the ADL said NJEHA was responsible for approximately 9% of all white supremacist propaganda incidents in the United States in 2019, data tracked by the Advance/SILive.com indicates their influence is more pronounced locally.
The Advance/SILive.com previously reported NJEHA’s main form of exposure is through the distribution of flyers and stickers, which the group encourages followers to print out and place in their neighborhoods.
“White supremacists see propaganda distribution — including flying, leafleting and stickering — as a convenient and practically anonymous way to promote their messages of hate and intolerance,” said ADL CEO Jonathan A. Greenblatt last year. “While we know extremists and hate groups are emboldened by the current environment, this surge in fliering and propaganda distribution powerfully demonstrates how bigots are able to spread their message without compromising their anonymity.”
When previously contacted for a story, a man who picked up the phone for a number listed on one of the NJEHA posters declined to speak to an Advance/SILive.com reporter, saying they “don’t want to talk,” adding, “you guys are liars and fake news.”
Tuesday’s letter comes two years after the Island’s Hate Crimes Task Force was created, in the wake of the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh in October of 2018.
The force creates educational materials distributed to Staten Island students informing them of the diversity in the borough and also informs on the meaning behind symbols of hate that are directed toward members of the Island’s population. Additionally, the Staten Island Hate Crimes Task Force also looks to develop legislative recommendations with the aim of strengthening protections for vulnerable groups.
McMahon has previously spoken out against the anti-Semitic postings on Staten Island and said his office was monitoring the incidents. The NYPD also previously confirmed it was “aware of the posters and the purported connection to a specific group that has engaged in hate speech,” adding, “The matter is being investigated.”
During former Rep. Max Rose’s tenure, he called NJEHA “absolutely a threat,” adding that the group spreads “vitriolic, hateful, disgusting material.”
If a poster is seen, despite the NJEHA’s self-proclaimed adherence to legality, Rose previously said to “pull it down, dump it in the garbage, and report it as well.”
“It has no place in our neighborhood,” Rose said.