Palm Beach police cite 4 with 'littering' antisemitic material; fourth incident in PBC this month
Palm Beach Police issued “littering” citations to four men Saturday for distributing antisemitic flyers to private residences on the island, a department spokesman said Sunday.
The citations to the out-of-state individuals came at 5 p.m., shortly after police sent out an alert to residents to report any antisemitic material they may have received.
Police identified the men as David Y. Kim, 60, of Pennsylvania; Jonathan K. Baldwin, 27, of Indiana; Jon E. Minadeo II, 40, of California; and Nicholas A. Bysheim, 33, of Maryland.
Minadeo is a well-known antisemitic agitator from Sonoma County, Calif., who boasted on social media last year that he had been handcuffed and arrested for “hate speech” outside the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. He leads an extremist group called the Goyim Defense League and its platform Goyim TV, which has distributed antisemitic flyers in cities across the country, according to national hate-group monitors.
In December, Minadeo announced he had moved the Bay Area-founded group to Florida.
Bysheim was arrested by Atlantis Police on Jan. 21 for obstructing a law enforcement officer without violence after receiving a littering citation for “throwing antisemitic hate speech flyers” on residents’ lawns, police said.
The Palm Beach island littering citations came after police say the men distributed flyers to residences.
More:Antisemitic, extremist-group activity rose across Florida during 2021, ADL report finds
More:Discovery of anti-Semitic flyers outside homes across Florida leads to call for federal probe
Contained in weighted, zipped plastic bags, the flyers decry nationally elected and appointed Jewish officials in relation to gun control, “the COVID agenda,” allegations that U.S. media are controlled by Jewish interests and the Biden Administration in general.
Palm Beach Town Council President Margaret Zeidman found one of the antisemitic packages on her doorstep. When she walked around her neighborhood later, she says she spotted others in “about two-thirds” of the homes near hers.
Hate crime charges unlikely
“It’s unfortunate that ignorance and hatred are not a crime. Littering and trespassing are,” Zeidman said Sunday. “At this point in time, there isn’t any other legal or law enforcement action that can be taken by the town, though I find it very frustrating.”
Hate crime charges in this case are unlikely, according to a Palm Beach Police spokesman.
“We do not anticipate that at this time, due to the non-criminal infraction status of the littering citations and the current state statutes regarding hate crimes,” Capt. Will Rothrock said in an email.
New law in the works:Projecting antisemitic images onto buildings would be a felony
Last week, Palm Beach County leaders held a closed-door meeting to push forward and expand plans to combat recent antisemitism displays in the area.
Under a bill that was introduced Jan. 19 by State Rep. Mike Caruso, R-Delray Beach, anyone who projects antisemitic images onto buildings could be charged with a felony.
Following the alleged incidents on Palm Beach, Palm Beach County Mayor Gregg Weiss said Sunday that antisemitic provocateurs, banking on the First Amendment, have found “a way to spread their hate that just tries to skirt the law.”
“We’ll continue to look for legal avenues available to combat what they’re doing and new laws to address their latest techniques,” he said. “I will continue to work with other folks in our community to do everything in our power to not allow these people to spread their hate and divisiveness in Palm Beach County.”
The Palm Beach packages incident follows similar antisemitic occurrences in West Palm Beach and Boca Raton, in addition to Atlantis.
New law in the works: Projecting antisemitic images onto buildings would be a felony
Officials: Boca Raton, West Palm Beach antisemitic displays during weekend are related
On Jan. 14, West Palm Beach police learned about antisemitic messages projected onto the side of a building. Police say they discovered two masked men with a rental truck, projector and generator. No arrests have been made in that incident.
Also in January, Boca Raton residents discovered antisemitic flyers on their front yards and driveways. Like the Palm Beach flyers, these were in zipped plastic bags.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach cites 4 with littering for distributing antisemitic flyers
