On Sunday, Dec. 19, when some Greensboro residents went out to pick up their newspaper, they found along with their paper an antisemitic hate-filled flier representing the opposite of the Christmas spirit.

According to reports, the anti-Semitic flier was primarily distributed in Old Irving Park and nearby neighborhoods.  The flier was not in any way associated with the News & Record or other Sunday newspapers, and a notice from the Greensboro Jewish Federation states, “We have learned that certain individuals who did not receive any newspaper also received this hateful piece.  At this time, there is no evidence of any information linking the distribution of this piece with the circulation of any newspaper.”

The only link between the antisemitic flyer and Sunday newspapers appears to be that many people found the flier when they went out to pick up their newspaper.

The email from the Jewish Federation also states, “This morning a number of members of the local Jewish community, and others, received a vile piece of antisemitic hatred, delivered with their newspaper.  It seeks to spread antisemitic, blatantly false, and evil conspiracies about the COVID-19 virus and our nation’s efforts to combat its spread.

“We are not the first community in which this has happened.  Our hearts go out to all those who have received this disgraceful propaganda.

“Hatred has no place in our community.

“We, in the Jewish community and those who align with us, stand against it.”

The flyer itself blames COVID-19 and the response to COVID-19 on the Jewish community including the makers of the vaccines and the mainstream media.

On Sunday, Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan texted, “It was brought to my attention that some neighborhoods were targeted with an anti-Semitic leaflet this morning.

“We cannot allow people to be targeted based on their religion, race, gender, sexual orientation, abilities or familial status.  Hate has no place in our city.  Love our neighbors.

“If you received one of these leaflets or if your security camera or doorbell camera has footage please call the police non-emergency line 336-373-2222 and let them know.”

As of Monday, Dec. 20, no group has claimed credit for distributing the flier.

This is not the first time hate filled fliers have mistakenly been associated with a newspaper in Greensboro.  In 2006, The Rhinoceros Times, represented by attorney Seth Cohen, currently with the Deuterman Law Group, filed suit against the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan for inserting its fliers in the pages of the free weekly.   In 2009, The Rhinoceros Times won that lawsuit and the court ordered the Knights of the KKK to pay $25,000 in punitive damages and issued a permanent injunction prohibiting the Knights of the KKK from using pages from The Rhinoceros Times to distribute its material.   

At the time, it was reported that The Rhinoceros Times was the only newspaper in the country to have won a permanent injunction against a KKK organization.