Police are investigating after antisemitic notes were left on several vehicles in Jefferson Park Sunday morning.
About 8:30 a.m., officers who responded to a call in the 5400 block of West Wilson Avenue found cardboard signs with antisemitic messages on several parked vehicles, Chicago police said.
The signs were left by the Goyim Defense League, an antisemitic group, U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, D-Ill., said in a statement.
“This morning, I was alerted to antisemitic leaflets distributed at residences in my district. I condemn this disgusting display of antisemitism. My Jewish constituents deserve to live in safety and without fear of intimidation or violence,” Garcia said. “The leaflets draw on deeply rooted conspiracy theories about government influence by listing Jewish members of the Biden administration.
No arrests have been made.
On Friday, several pro-Israel yard signs had been torn out and ripped apart in suburban Skokie. Footage captured by doorbell cameras showed three people stealing and ripping up the signs at about 3:30 a.m. Friday.
In Hickory Hills, police were investigating a hate crime after a Palestinian family in the southwest suburb received a letter threatening to “burn” them last week.
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Lila Gaber, a Muslim Palestinian American, put a sign in her yard that reads “Free Palestine” after the conflict escalated between Israeli and Hamas forces last month, leading to thousands of civilian deaths.
In early October, a report released by the Anti-Defamation League detailed that racist propaganda and antisemitic acts more than doubled last year in Illinois.
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The report, titled “Hate in the Prairie State,” provided a comprehensive list of radical forces targeting Illinois, including white supremacist groups, anti-LGBTQ+ zealots and adherents of the QAnon conspiracy theory, which supports former President Donald Trump.
Antisemitic acts including assault, harassment and vandalism rose to their highest level in recent history in 2022, jumping 128% from the previous year, from 53 to 121. That was the seventh-largest statewide total in a year that saw “the highest-ever number of antisemitic incidents nationwide,” the ADL noted.
