Full Notification

Here's a news release for you from the City of Palo Alto:

The City confirmed today that a hate incident occurred on February 20 when dozens of flyers were found in several Palo Alto neighborhoods. The Palo Alto Police Department investigated and documented what occurred as a “hate incident.” While there was no indication that recipients of the flyers were targeted in any way, the incident raises community concerns about hate crimes and hate incidents and follows calls by faith leaders, the City Council, and City officials for a community response of belonging and kindness.
 
“Our community is strengthened by its diversity. We call on all of us to stand together in support of our neighbors and our community values. We are inspired by the grace of Rabbi Levin and District Attorney Rosen who have called on us to respond to these vile acts with deliberate acts of goodness and kindness to each other,” said Pat Burt, Palo Alto mayor. “Together, we can overpower individuals who would try to undermine our goodwill.”
 
The flyers, similar to those found in other communities in recent months, listed numerous federal government officials, identifying them as Jewish. The flyers directed people to a website with various videos espousing certain viewpoints, many on topics of a political nature.
 
“These types of acts are a reminder to all of us that hate crimes and hate incidents are serious and are taken seriously by the personnel of the Palo Alto Police Department,” said Palo Alto Police Chief Robert Jonsen. “We will continue to review information as it becomes available to determine if criminal charges needs to be brought forward to the District Attorney for review. Similar flyers, if not identical, have been distributed in other cities in the Bay Area and elsewhere over the past few weeks.”
 
Police do not know who distributed the flyers though they have confirmed similar flyers have also been seen elsewhere. While the incident on February 20 has already been documented, the Police Department encourages reporting any new incidents that may occur in the future.  The City of Palo Alto encourages members of our community to promptly report hate crimes and hate incidents by calling our 24-hour dispatch center at (650) 329-2413, or 9-1-1 if it is an emergency.
 
After several months of community engagement and community conversations on race and equity, the City Council adopted the Race & Equity mission statement on November 16, 2020. “The City of Palo Alto is committed to creating a respectful, fair, and professional workplace and city. We will identify prejudices, eliminate inequities, welcome many perspectives, and use a collaborative approach to create an environment that works for everyone. The City's commitment to achieve equity in Palo Alto is the shared responsibility of our residents, organizations, governments, and other institutions.”
 
On that same evening, the City Council voted on 16 other actions to advance equity work on a range of topics from use of police data to a community summit on gender equity issues. Notably, the City Council decided to continue this work through the Council’s Policy and Services Committee on an ongoing basis. In addition, in March 2021, the City Council denounced violence directed at people of Asian descent. 
 
The community can learn more about how to report hate crimes by going here. For more on the City’s race and equity work, go to www.cityofpaloalto.org/raceandequity
 
For more information, see the California Department of Justice website here: https://oag.ca.gov/hatecrimes.