New Yorkers get racist, homophobic hate mail with Make America Great Again swastika
Love and hate in New York City (TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images/Facebook/Dov Hiskind)
A number of New York businesses have been sent racist, homophobic and antisemitic hate mail.
At least nine addresses in Harlem and Brooklyn all received the same letter, CBS New York reports.
The letter features a large swastika and the following text.
NYS Assemblyman Dov Hiskind with the Nazi letter sent to Jewish stores (Facebook/Dov Hiskind)
MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!!
JUDEN RAUS
NEGROES AND FAGGOTS MUST BURN IN HELL
CHRISTIAN IDENTITY IS BACK
Numery Uno Jewelry in East Harlem (Google)
“Juden raus” was a slogan used in Nazi Germany, meaning “Jews out”.
“Make America Great Again” was a slogan of the Donald Trump Presidential campaign, which he has retained since the election.
Places targeted by the letter include the Harlem Business Alliance, Numero Uno Jewelry and a Starbucks in Harlem.
Also sent letters were a law firm, a law office and a bakery/butcher in Brooklyn.
The Israeli consulate in Midtown East also received a letter.
Related: San Francisco activists prepare to fight neo-Nazis with dog poo
Numero Uno Jewelry employee Hilda Hurtado opened the letter, which was received on Yom Kippur – the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
She is Catholic, though her manager is Jewish.
Nazi letter sent to Jewish and other businesses (Facebook//Dov Hiskind)
“It was very shocking because you receive this letter, also the days of your holidays – it was disgusting,” she told CBS.
Paul Freund, who works at the Brooklyn butcher shop targetted, added: “To me it sounds – I’m not afraid as though, to me it could be, whoever did it in 2017 to me is stupid.”
New York State Assemblyman Dov Hiskind visited the Weiss Bakery following the shocking incident.
“In light of what’s going on the world, all threats must be taken very seriously,” said Hiskind.
New York Pride (Getty Images)
“We’re not waiting for an incident before addressing a threat.”
He added: “Hate crimes are serious matters.
“This threat against one of our community’s beloved establishments, which used the US mail, is absolutely a hate crime.”
The “Unite The Right” rally in Charlottesville (Getty Images)
Police are yet to determine who sent the letters, while Facebook user Blimi Marcus confirmed that the same letter has also been sent to businesses in Los Angels.
Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said: “We are aware of this and similar letters that have been sent.
“We are investigating and will not stand for these acts.”
There has seemingly been a rise in the use of Nazi imagery and iconography among individuals and US hate groups in recent months.
White supremacists in Charlottesville (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP/Getty Images)
Most strikingly, violence broke out in Charlottesville earlier this year when white supremacists took to the streets wielding torches.
Protestors were seen waving banners in support of the KKK and chanting racist and homophobic slogans, including “f**k you faggots”.
Their violence resulted in the death of anti-fascist counter-protestor Heather Heyer, who was killed when a car was driven into a crowd of those opposing the racist marchers.
Neo-Nazi posters in Australia
Meanwhile, in Australia, neo-Nazis have joined those campaigning against equal marriage.
The Australian Traditional Nationalist Group, which claims to “advocate the protection of white identity and the Traditional Western values rooted in Christian and Pagan traditions”, is behind posters featuring a Nazi Iron Cross.
Their posters say: “Mothers and fathers love is irreplacable” and “traditional marriage must be protected”.
