Man caught on video putting anti-Semitic material on Lexington businesses, police say
Lexington police on Tuesday were searching for a man accused of putting on Lexington businesses stickers that directed people to an anti-Semitic website.
The unknown man was caught on video leaving the stickers on Dec. 31, Lexington police said. People started noticing the stickers and calling the police on Jan. 4. The stickers were left on several businesses, and they featured a QR code that would take users to a website full of anti-Semitic material once scanned, police said.
The suspect could be charged with harassment if identified and found, police said. Anyone with information on the suspect was asked to call police at (859) 258-3600 or by submitting a tip on lexidme.com.
It was one of several instances of anti-Semitic material being shared around Lexington or shouted at Jewish people in Lexington over the last few months of 2020.
Fliers full of hateful rhetoric were shared around Lexington in August. The fliers advocated for “white power” and told white people to “stand up” against minorities. A white supremacy group claimed responsibility for the fliers.
The same group appeared to share new fliers around the city in November, and the Jewish Student Center’s sign on the University of Kentucky campus was vandalized.
A member of the Chabad of the Bluegrass was allegedly assaulted by someone outside the Jewish Student Center in December. The suspect allegedly drove off in a car, dragging a Jewish man down the road before running over the victim’s leg and speeding off.
Police didn’t think the altercation started over anti-Semitism, but the suspect was believed to have yelled an anti-Semitic slur during the disorder, police said.
Rabbi Shlomo Litvin, from the UK Jewish Student Center, swiftly condemned each incident.
“Following a year which saw a huge uptick in anti-Semitic incidents, Lexington cannot remain silent in the face of words of hate,” Litvin said in a Facebook post regarding the stickers.
This story was originally published January 26, 2021 at 3:40 PM.