Gainesville police officers release details on anti-semitic flyers investigation

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) - “My goodness. What has the world come to?”

According to police reports, Gainesville Police Department officers responded to a call on Saturday of a suspicious incident on the 3700 block of Northwest 53rd Ave.

Residents told officers they found clear plastic bags filled with kernels of corn and a white sheet of paper promoting anti-semitism.

“They’re just cowards,” said resident Steve Farquhar. “Maybe they should knock on the door and tell me something, instead of throwing a bag of corn on the driveway.”

Homes in the Rosemont, Sutters Landing and Mile Run neighborhoods received the flyers.

“It’s foolish people that have too much time on their hands,” claimed Farquhar.

According to police officers, at approximately 3:15 pm a neighbor’s Ring camera captured the vehicle driving slowly through a neighborhood. Some residents told us they will be installing security cameras for their safety.

“We’ve just felt very safe here,” claimed resident Samantha Wright. “But now that it’s hit very, very close to home, we’ll definitely be installing one.”

Few neighbors had ring or security cameras that caught the car going by.

One neighbor said they saw the vehicle slowly driving and had people inside wearing black face masks, throwing the bags into driveways.

“I’m kinda glad there are so many things that they do catch on that ring camera, and hopefully it’ll solve some crimes,” claimed Farquhar.

The ziplock bags were collected by Gainesville Police Department officers.

“I know what it is to be targeted,” said Wright. “That’s not something that we tolerate in this neighborhood. It’s not something that’s accepted in this neighborhood.”

According to GPD, state and national law enforcement agencies will be joining the investigation.

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