Racist flyers left at Seattle synagogues



SEATTLE -- Police are investigating after racist flyers were left at two synagogues in South Seattle.

Seattle Police say it happened Sunday, and the flyers included racist and anti-immigrant messages and a URL for a hate group.

Q13 News has blurred out text at the bottom of the flier, excluding other racist language and the name of the group claiming responsibility.  The flier appears to allude to four US Representatives that were at the center of a series of tweets sent by President Trump.



 

Neighbors in this community say they see a connection between what the president is saying and these flyers.

"This is the language that Trump is telling the American public, 'Hey it's okay,'" said David Goldstein. "And suddenly it's appearing on Nazi fliers taped to the doors of synagogues."

Seattle Police say they were alerted to the flyers Sunday morning. At that time, a witness said they spotted a man outside a synagogue on 52nd Avenue S. wearing all black and a mask covering his face. He was also reportedly carrying a black suitcase.

Anyone with information on this case is being asked to contact Seattle Police.

Just last month, a study showed the number of hate crimes in Washington state going up. It was done by SafeHome.org, which collected data from the FBI over the last several years.

Between 2013 and 2017, Washington state saw a 78 percent spike in the number of hate crimes. It was even worse in the city of Seattle, where hate crimes shot up 163 percent.