Several Marysville residents recently received packages containing rice and a paper flyer inside. The flyer has an anti-Semitic message along with Bible verses and a link to a website. The paper also contains a QR code, which has been intentionally obscured in the photo above.
(Photo submitted)
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When Larry Zimmerman walked out of his home Thursday, he didn’t pay much attention to the package at the bottom of his driveway.
It was early and Zimmerman was out for a walk. Other neighbors had similar packages.
When he arrived at home, he picked up the package — a sandwich bag with rice and a folded flyer. The flyer, when unfolded, contained an anti-Semitic message, artwork comparing Judaism to satan worship, several Bible verses, directions to a website and a QR code for more information.
“It was a hate package,” Zimmerman said. “It’s not what I would expect in Marysville.”
Zimmerman said he learned that similar packages had been delivered to some of his neighbors as well as to homes on other streets.
Marysville Police Chief Tony Brooks confirmed that several of the packages on two different streets had been reported.
Zimmerman said he read the flyer and was “disgusted.”
He said he went to the link on the flyer to see if he could tell who had distributed it.
“It is definitely a hate group,” Zimmerman said. “It is a group blaming the Jewish people for a lot of different things. It is a just a bunch of hate speech.”
Brooks called the distribution “very ugly.”
“We would like more information,” Brooks said. “We would need to investigate more to see if this rises to the level of a criminal offense, but either way, it is not something we would expect or want here in the City of Marysville.”
He added, “This is a situation where we would ask the public for help and information.”
Investigators are asking residents on West Seventh and Catawba streets to contact the police if they saw anything out of the ordinary Wednesday night into Thursday morning. Additionally, they are asking residents in that area to check their doorbell cameras to see if any of them captured the individuals distributing the flyers. He also asked anyone who received one of the packages, even if they just ignored it or threw it away, to contact police.
“The more information we have, the more we can look at and that makes it easier to see if there is a pattern,” Brooks said. “We don’t know if there is a pattern or not, but we would like to know.”
Those with information are being asked to contact Marysville Police Cpl. Michael Burkhardt at (937) 645-7300.
Officials said similar flyers have been distributed in a variety of communities around the country. Like in Marysville, the bags have a flyer and rice or beans to weigh them down.
“This is definitely a larger group,” Zimmerman said. “I hope it is a larger group that came in from outside the area, that targeted us for some reason. I hope it is not Marysville or Union County folks that are part of that larger group.”
Zimmerman said he sees the nation dividing and he fears politicians are normalizing this type of behavior.
“It needs to stop,” Zimmerman said. “They need to understand that their speech allows this type of thing to continue, but there is just no place for it.”
The police chief said they are rare in Marysville, “but we do have incidents like this crop up from time to time.”
The former superintendent of the Marysville School District, Zimmerman said he has been part of the community for “a long time.” He said he chose to stay in Marysville when he retired, because of the community.
“Marysville is full of good people. We need to recognize that and celebrate each other,” Zimmerman said. “This is not who we are and if it is, it is not who we should be.”