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Anti-Semitic flyers dropped in Cheyenne

The messages from an anti-Semitic hate group distributed in Denver in December, 2021 and in Parker in February, 2021, have spread north to Wyoming.

WY State Rep. Jared Olsen has a mezuzzah at his front door.

On the morning of Oct. 2, Wyoming State Representative Jared Olsen walked out from his front door at his home in downtown Cheyenne and found an anti-Semitic flyer in a baggie, with the words “Every aspect of 911 was Jewish.”

The anti-Semitic messaging is the same as those distributed in Colorado by the group goyimtv, based in Florida.

Olsen is a Republican in Wyoming’s District 11, running for reelection. Olsen is Christian, but a DNA test years ago revealed he has Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry. Olsen has a mezuzzah on his front door.

“We believe this is a major sign as to why these flyers were not randomly distributed on our front doorstep,” Olsen told the IJN.

In the midst of his reelection campaign, Olsen and members of his staff found the anti-Semitic messaging placed on other lawns in Olsen’s neighborhood. Olsen’s staff recovered about 30 of the messages in the same baggies.

“This definitely threw me off,” said Olsen. “I was just about to do some door-to-door campaigning that day. My wife, who is often with me, decided to stay home to make sure our kids were safe.”

Surveillance video from Olsen’s neighborhood detected that the messages were placed on neighbors’ yards at approximately midnight and early morning of Oct. 2, the same method by the previous incidents in Denver and Parker.

“When you live in a smaller community like Cheyenne, when something happens like this that already happened in a larger city like Denver, you realize that hate is everywhere,” Olsen said.

Other messaging dropped on other lawns included the headline “Every single aspect of mass immigration is Jewish,” the same as flyers previously disseminated in Colorado.

Dave Lerner, president of Mt. Sinai Congregation in Cheyenne, reported to his congregants that none of the messaging was disseminated at the synagogue.

Lerner said the Cheyenne Police Dept. and the Anti-Defamation League in Denver were both notified of the incidents.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said in a statement: “Those targeting the Jewish community with anti-Semitic hate must be repudiated by all Americans.

“The mainstreaming of bigotry in any form must never be tolerated or excused.”

Copyright © 2022 by the Intermountain Jewish News



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IJN Staff Writer | [email protected]


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