Police identify suspect vehicle in Fond du Lac propaganda case
FOND DU LAC, Wis. (WFRV) – MaryBeth Cole has lived in Fond du Lac for 18 years, and every morning begins with a walk with her dog, Cookie, followed by one in the evening. It is a mundane routine in her quiet neighborhood on the north side of the city.
“I enjoy Fond du Lac; it’s a low-cost living. It’s a great commuting city,” Cole said. “I walk my dog around this neighborhood twice a day, every day. It’s not uncommon for me to pick up some litter while we’re walking.”
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But Easter morning snapped her out of the ordinary routine. She picked up a small piece of litter, and it was so powerful that it stopped her in her tracks.
“I realized this isn’t normal litter. This is something else,” she said. “We opened this packet, and there were pages upon pages of white nationalism, racism, views against different religions.”
The small, 4-by-6-inch pieces of paper were neatly printed and cut, headlined by phrases like “Keep Wisconsin White” and “Race mixing is white genocide,” and they were placed in waterproof, clear plastic bags so they would be seen but not get ruined.
Cole reported the packet of materials to the police, who continued to investigate the incident. According to police, dozens of packets have been found across the city, although none have been reported within the last week.
“I started expanding my dog walking area,” Cole said. “I started finding them all over the neighborhood. So, I just took it upon myself to pick them all up. I didn’t want that being distributed to people around here. And we also have a school half a block away. And people walk down these streets every day.”
Fond du Lac Police declined to be interviewed for this story but confirmed that a suspect vehicle was found on a neighbor’s security camera. It appears to be a white Penske rental van driving slowly with its door open.
Police say the video quality is too poor to make out a license plate and that they have hit a dead end in identifying suspects. They are urging anyone with information to reach out, no matter how insignificant it might seem.
A link or QR code to the organization White Lives Matter, defined as a neo-Nazi group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, was cited on many of the pieces of paper. Local 5 has reached out to White Lives Matter for a request for comment but has not heard back.
“It’s disgusting,” Cole said. “That someone took the time to print this all out, to cut it, to package it, to distribute it, it’s upsetting, to say the very least. I am aware that there are problems with racism and discrimination in the city. I’ve just never seen it so blatantly.”
Several blocks away, Rosanne, who asked Local 5 not to use her last name, also made an alarming discovery, finding a packet on Main St.
“I turned it over and looked, and it was like hate information, supporting white supremacy,” Rosanne said. “I was disgusted by that.”
According to city council president Tiffany Brault, city leadership is also feeling the effects of the hatred in the community.
“It was really sad to hear that this is something in our community, especially because some of the pamphlets were found in the neighborhood where my kids go to school,” Brault said. “It is sad knowing that there are people who feel comfortable putting out this material, but also sad knowing that there are people who feel this way, knowing that they can target others. It also makes me feel angry that people want to promote this kind of thinking because we’re not a strong community unless we can all work together.”
As the investigation continues, it remains unclear what, if any, charges the person(s) behind this could face. Police say they will be looking at littering and property damage charges, as several stickers of the same content were placed on street signs that had to be removed.
The city attorney’s office would address any littering charges because that is at the ordinance level, while the district attorney would take up any property damage charges.
“[Discrimination] has no place in our community and has no place in our criminal justice system,” Fond du Lac County district attorney Eric Toney said. “Criminal damage to property, if that becomes criminal, that can go through the district attorney’s office, and generally speaking, depending on the damage, that might be a class A misdemeanor, and restitution is something that would be available.”
Toney explained that while he has not been briefed on the investigation if no threat is made, it is difficult to charge an individual. In addition, a hate crime is added as an enhancer to an existing charge in the state of Wisconsin, so an individual would not be charged outright with that.
“Sometimes speech can move to the criminal end of things; we have a statute on the books for terrorist threats,” Toney explained. “In Wisconsin, hate crime is an enhancer, so it’s not necessarily a crime in and of itself. We don’t have a specific charge that we could just charge somebody with a hate crime if there was a crime committed, a hate crime could be an enhancer that’s added onto a criminal charge.”
While their hands are tied legally, community leaders are firmly condemning the propaganda and say that anyone involved does not represent the city of 44,000.
“Fond du lac does not support the types of material they are handing out. We are a community that stands strong and together, and we all want to care for each other,” Brault said. “We really are a community that wants to come together, and these packets, while I understand there are people that do feel this way, they do not represent the entirety of Fond du Lac.”
“That’s just not representative of our community here in Fond du Lac County, and racism has no place when we look at the criminal justice system. We’re just making a decision based on the law and facts,” Toney said.
According to the U.S. Census, as of 2023, 87% of Fond du Lac’s residents are white. Brault says that people of all backgrounds deserve to feel safe and welcomed in this community and hopes that the power of unity can be felt after this incident.
“We’re all here for you. We don’t want you to feel hurt or not welcome in our community,” she said. “People in leadership positions like me believe that we are stronger together and that we should support everybody in our communities.”
Brault is proud of the residents who have come forward to report the propaganda and encourages others to do the same.
“The fact that the people found this and the first thing they wanted to do is report it is really important, that they wanted to make sure the police department was aware, that the community was aware so that we can try to figure out what to do next,” she said.
Residents are blunt in their position on the propaganda.
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“That has no place here in Fond du Lac,” Rosanne said. “It was sad to think that someone has so much hate that they would be distributing materials like that.”
“Keep your racist propaganda out of my neighborhood,” Cole said. “And keep your hate out of Fond du Lac. Stop hating.”
