BOCA RATON, FLA. (WSVN) - Residents of a Boca Raton neighborhood are speaking out after they were hit by hate this weekend, leaving a community disturbed.
One resident said he was pulling into his home Saturday when he found a plastic bag in his driveway.
Inside the small storage bag, the resident said, was an obscene antisemitic message.
“I just found this on my property. This is disgusting,” he said. “I don’t understand why this is happening here.”
Driveway after driveway, multiple Ziploc bags were left sitting outside these homes.
“I was shocked, you know? This is a wonderful neighborhood,” said the resident.
Also inside the bag were what appeared to be pellets.
The hateful messages left another homeowner upset a couple of streets down.
“There were a bunch of driveways that had it on them,” said the homeowner. “I just don’t like that kind of hate around your neighborhood.”
The homeowner said she will dispose of the bagged message, but the other contents have her concerned about the safety of curious children and animals who may come across them.
“I’m just a little worried, because in our neighborhood, we have a lot of dogs, a lot of people who walk their dogs, and we have a lot of kids, toddlers, and who knows what’s in there?” she said.
Boca Raton Police said they are investigating.
Detectives said there is no evidence that the pellets inside the packets are toxic.
Anti-Defamation League Deputy Regional Director Lonny Wilk said this is part of a rising trend in antisemitic rhetoric.
“In 2020, when you saw a 40% increase in antisemitic incidents. In 2021, we saw a 15% increase over the previous year,” he said.
Wilk said that the contents inside the packets are concerning, but his message is clear.
“We are unified against hate. We are unified against bigotry, and antisemitism has no place in our community,” he said.
While police have not apprehended a subject yet, several neighbors said they are sure they saw a pickup truck toss the packets onto the driveways.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.