‘Scared to leave my house’: Florida woman describes antisemitic flyers in front of home

By Sooji Nam

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    LAKE WORTH, Florida (WPBF) — Tina Podhurst was shocked when she found antisemitic pamphlets on her driveway over the weekend.

She has been living in the Lake Worth community for about 15 years and says something like this has never happened to her before.

“This is so horrible that this is going on in the world,” Podhurst told WPBF 25 News.

She said she’s been a victim of hate speech throughout her life.

“Growing up in the south, I’ve had things said to me, I’ve been saluted,” she said. “I’m scared to leave my house now.”

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said they received similar pamphlets at their headquarters over the weekend.

“This is despicable, and it’s cowardly. Make no mistake, this is a cowardly act to throw this on individuals’ driveways because they do it in the dark of night. And then they slink away under the cover of darkness, so they are not seen,” Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg told WPBF 25 News.

This incident makes one of several recent cases of antisemitism in Palm Beach County.

Earlier this month, suspects used a projector to display swastika symbols over the AT&T building in West Palm Beach. Police said they’re working with the State Attorney’s office to see what charges may be possibly filed.

“I’m supposed to feel safe as an American. And I don’t. I don’t feel safe at all,” Podhurst said.

The sheriff’s office said no charges will be filed in the case of these pamphlets due to freedom of speech.

“Even hate speech gets constitutional protection. Now, if the hate is accompanied by a crime, like assault, battery, then we can use our anti-hate crime law to charge the crime and enhance the penalty. But there is no separate hate crime law in Florida. There’s no crime in throwing this stuff – unless they throw in on the ground, that’s littering,” Aronberg said. “There was a law in the books that would make their actions illegal. But it was thrown out by the courts as unconstitutional because the first amendment provides broad protection.”

In order to crack down on this issue, the Palm Beach County Mayor, sheriff’s office, state attorney’s office, members of the Jewish Federation, and legislators will be meeting on Tuesday to delve deeper into the laws and ordinances.

“Legislators can go back to Tallahassee and hopefully look at the laws of broadcasting messages on private buildings, without the owner’s consent. Perhaps they can make that a crime. It’s not a crime right now,” Aronberg said. “Perhaps they can give local governments more power to enforce anti-littering laws to really hit these folks in the pocketbook. Make them pick up trash on the highways too.”

“I would love to charge these individuals with crimes, I want to hold them accountable, but unfortunately, there’s no law in the books to do so. So, what the community is doing is the right thing in coming together and having rallies, and having meetings to show that hate will never be acceptable in Palm Beach County,” he said.

“We’re Jewish and proud of it,” Podhurst said.

“If their intent was to divide us, if their intent was to scare us, if their intent was to generate lots of new supporters, they failed on all those things,” Aronberg said.

Watch: Jewish community reacts to antisemitic display at FAU as the university denounces group’s presence

Podhurst had a message for whoever was behind this over the weekend.

“Please stop. It’s not fair, it’s not fair,” she said.

The county roundtable discussion is closed doors, and WPBF 25 News will bring all the updates as we learn them.

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