HENRY COUNTY, Ga. — Authorities are searching for individuals they believe are responsible for distributing flyers with racist and antisemitic messages around Henry County.
Residents told Channel 2 Action News flyers were found in several yards across Hampton and Henry County Sunday morning.
It’s a community already coping with a major loss after a deadly mass shooting one weekend earlier.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
According to residents, the flyers tried to use that tragedy to spread racist and antisemitic messages.
The Branch family was one of many who woke up Sunday morning to the flyers stuffed in bags thrown in their yards and driveways.
“I definitely feel like this person could be dangerous,” said Khloe Branch.
Surveillance video shows someone tossing them from a car around 12:45 in the morning.
The messages specifically referenced the deadly mass shooting, the shooter’s race, and the people killed.
City Manager Alex Cohilas told Channel 2 Action News, “We are deeply disappointed someone has littered our city with this garbage. We will not tolerate it. This is not representative of our city, our citizens, or our values. We condemn it as disgusting, divisive, and exploitative of a highly tragic event. Our police are aggressively investigating to find out who is behind it. Detectives already have a significant lead.”
TRENDING STORIES:
- DUI, mechanical failure leaves 2 dead, 1 seriously injured in multi-vehicle crash on I-75, GSP says
- Owner arrested after police find stolen vehicles at Atlanta chop shop, police say
- Ga. trooper pulls over car with windows that were too dark. What he found inside broke his heart
Angel Branch said whoever is behind the flyers is preying on a community already hurting.
“We need to be Hampton strong when we face a tragedy like that and need to be Hampton strong when we face things like this,” said Branch. “We don’t accept this kind of behavior.”
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
IN OTHER NEWS:
:quality(70)/d1hfln2sfez66z.cloudfront.net/07-23-2023/t_050e7cd01e144b859ed825e5024d8273_name_Suspect_arrested_after_SWAT_situation_at_southwest_Atlanta_home.png)
©2023 Cox Media Group
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/FFAXV3YZW5APHCVHJF7BYBSU5U.png)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/SRMXU4DWJFGEZED6FQHGIH4ZBE.png)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/VEHJNKJ2KZG2JDZPRMFZQG4PA4.jpeg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/3CNHQ4TR7JHERFE5CLLBQ5SIWA.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/GSH5VI7AFZGO7KNMP5KAFCCKDM.jpeg)