Bags containing anti-Semitic and anti-LGBTQ-plus leaflets found in Paso neighborhood 

When Michael Seden-Hansen stepped out onto his front lawn to put a letter in the mailbox, he made a jarring discovery.

"I saw this bag on my lawn with a paper in it that had these bizarre anti-Semitic and anti-LGBTQ-plus messages in it," Seden-Hansen said. "I immediately looked around to see if I could find more, and sure enough I ended up finding two more bags on the sidewalk to either side of my house."

Seden-Hansen was just one of multiple Paso Robles residents who found these bags scattered across the River Oaks neighborhood on Wednesday, June 7, sparking a community response that decried the hateful messages contained within while beginning the search for the people responsible.

"People were disgusted that it had been thrown around our neighborhood," Seden-Hansen said. "Everyone wanted to find out who and why they had done this."

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• File Photo By Jayson Mellom
• OPEN INVESTIGATION Paso Robles Police Department Sgt. Ricky Lehr said there's an ongoing investigation into who is responsible for the bags of hate recently found in the Paso Robles River Oaks neighborhood.

The city of Paso Robles put out a statement condemning the incident and announcing that the Paso Robles Police Department had initiated an investigation, which had been ongoing as of New Times' press time.

"The dissemination of this material undermines the fundamental principles of equality that are the bedrock of a just and harmonious society," Paso Robles City Manger Ty Lewis said in a statment. "The city firmly believes in fostering an inclusive and accepting community where every individual can live without fear or prejudice."

Paso Robles Police Sgt. Ricky Lehr said that his department immediately came to the scene to collect the bags and figure out who was involved, especially since it appeared to be targeting that neighborhood—which is home to many Jewish and LGBTQ-plus families.

"The material is extremely concerning," Lehr said. "While it doesn't meet the level of a hate crime, it does classify as a hate incident."

The Paso Robles Police Department has not confirmed the group's specific name at this time.

Both Lehr and Seden-Hansen said they are under the impression that the group or individuals responsible are from outside the area, as this type of leaflet has been found in similar circumstances throughout California and even the greater United States.

"From what we found, it's a group that goes up and down states and drops off these materials," Lehr said. "[The department] has the understanding that these types of flyers have been dropped off in other cities, but we don't have any information beyond that at this time."

Seden-Hansen says the individual or groups responsible may target the neighborhood because of its proximity to the freeway—something that has been common in other instances across the country where similar leaflets were found.

"This same flyer has shown up recently in Virginia of all places," Seden-Hansen said. "The theory has been thrown around that these groups use the leaflets as some kind of fundraiser. They leave them in neighborhoods like ours with the hope that people who agree with their ideology will read the leaflets and make a donation to their 'cause.'"

While the investigation is ongoing, Seden-Hansen says the response from his small neighborhood—and Paso Robles as a whole—makes him proud to be a resident and hopeful that future instances like this can become a thing of the past.

"I am heartened by the community response, especially with our Police Department's response and city condemnation," he said. "It's unified and decisive, and it says loudly that we do not have a place for this in our community." Δ