L.A. council members seek report on hateful fliers during emotional meeting

Los Angeles City Council members on Tuesday ordered a report on threatening fliers and antisemitic messages left on residents’ properties.

The move followed an emotional council committee meeting where dozens of public speakers warned the members that their actions could lead to censorship of pro-Palestinian messaging.

Councilmembers Bob Blumenfield and Nithya Raman submitted a motion last month asking the Los Angeles Police Department and city attorney to consider new penalties for hateful “littering in mass” and to examine how the littering is currently handled by the city.

Blumenfield, in an interview before the meeting, did not point to a specific incident as motivation for the motion. It comes amid the conflict between Israel and Hamas and, in the U.S., attacks on people of Palestinian descent and Jewish people.

“It’s been brewing for a while, but I think given the delicate state that we’re in now and the increase in hate rhetoric, it just seemed like the right time,” said Blumenfield, who represents the west San Fernando Valley.

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Blumenfield also criticized the Thanksgiving day protest outside the Brentwood home of the president of a pro-Israel lobbying group.

His motion pertains to “litter with the intent to willfully injure, intimidate, interfere with, oppress, or threaten any person based on their perceived characteristics.”

“The perpetrators of this crime do so in the hope that it will harass and intimidate Jewish families, radicalize others, or desensitize some to the messaging,” the motion adds.

Previous fliers have targeted not just the Jewish community, Blumenfield said, but also Armenians and the LGBTQ+ and Black communities.

“When you’re targeting a neighborhood or targeting people, you’re stepping into potentially a different area that could be hate speech,” Blumenfield said. “That’s not the same as just printing something out and dropping it on the ground.”

Hamid Khan, lead coordinator for the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, said Blumenfield’s motion threatens free speech at a time when anti-Zionism is being equated with antisemitism.

“This is a clear and direct assault on people’s ability to speak out, our right to protest, our right to speech,” Khan said. He’s concerned the motion will serve to restrict protests for Palestinian liberation, he said.

Over the past two years, incidents of antisemitic fliers have been reported in Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Culver City and Huntington Beach. The fliers are often left near people’s homes in plastic bags weighed down with rocks and contain antisemitic imagery and messaging.

“Every single aspect of the LGBTQ+ movement is Jewish,” said one flier distributed in Huntington Beach earlier this year, KTLA reported. The flier also included photos of people with the Star of David on their forehead.

The California Penal Code punishes certain hate crimes with imprisonment, but the crime of littering usually only results in a fine, according to Blumenfield’s motion.

Many speakers at Tuesday’s Public Safety Committee meeting urged the council to clarify what would be considered antisemitism by law enforcement. Many shared concerns that anti-Zionist and pro-Palestinian messaging could be labeled as antisemitism and subsequently censored.

Others said the motion made them feel less safe.

“You have blood on your hands,” one audience member shouted when the committee passed the motion.

Adam Smith, a speaker at Tuesday’s meeting, said the motion will “further empower the LAPD to target people that the city doesn’t care to hear from.”

Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez, a member of the committee, told his colleagues that fliers calling for genocide against Armenians were found in Glendale, as well as in the Little Armenia neighborhood in his district.

Soto-Martínez also said he wants to ensure that the regulations aren’t used to “go after peaceful protesters, political campaigns, and first and foremost that we’re protecting everyone’s 1st Amendment right to free speech.”

Soto-Martinez submitted an amendment asking that the L.A. Civil and Human Rights and Equity Department report back on “alternative solutions to preventing and addressing hate speech that is disseminated via mass flyering.”

Still, several people shouted “Shame!” when the committee unanimously passed Blumenfield’s motion. It now goes to the full council.

Sam Yebri, a Jewish attorney and former City Council candidate, said it’s important to respond to mass littering on a case-by-case basis. An antisemitic flier was left on his own property last year.

“This is more than just a piece of paper or baggie with literature in it,” he said. “These are intended to terrorize not just the recipient but an entire community.”