‘I’m just sickened’: Racist flyers discovered in southside Milwaukee neighborhood with growing immigrant population

Racist political flyers targeting immigrant communities were discovered Thursday morning near a southside Milwaukee park.

The flyers were found along sidewalks near Ohio Park, 974 W. Holt Ave., in the Morgandale neighborhood between Eighth, Ninth and 10th streets by West Oklahoma Avenue and West Holt Avenue, Ald. Marina Dimitrijevic told the Journal Sentinel Thursday evening.

The alderwoman said a constituent notified her office and staff then notified the Milwaukee Police Department. Dimitrijevic said “it appears” that more flyers were found in other parts of Milwaukee County and Wisconsin. “The FBI is involved … but it’s still under investigation,” she said.

The FBI and Milwaukee police didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday night.

Dimitrijevic said several versions exist of the flyers, one of which has circulated in a neighborhood group online. “MASS DEPORTATION NOTICE,” a flyer is titled. The flyer then calls for undocumented immigrants to vacate the U.S. or be forcibly removed upon the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump on Jan. 20.

The Morgandale neighborhood is about 50% Latino and is also home to a growing Burmese Rohingya community. “This was a targeted area,” Dimitrijevic said.

“Clearly someone with a terrible intent, racist intent, a hateful intent, spread these carefully in a certain area at a certain time and it almost felt like it was right before school and people were kind of getting moving,” she added. “It’s pretty painful to get these types of phone calls.”

Another flyer calls for “white power unity” and offers a phone number to call to report undocumented neighbors, Dimitrijevic said.

A substance was found in some of the baggies holding the flyers, but “the substance has been deemed nontoxic,” Dimitrijevic said.

“I’ll be asking the city attorney, the police department, to look at whatever the violation was, private property littering,” she said. “… I certainly wish that racism was illegal but I am just really concerned about the families who worked really hard to be here and make our city what it is and to discover this with your family and children, such hateful flyers is just totally unacceptable. I can’t say more about how I absolutely refuse to normalize this activity.

“I don’t know why people are feeling emboldened but I’m not going to let that happen, certainly in my district or our city. … I see the strength of my district and the city is diversity, so the fact that it’s being attacked again, I’m not going to tolerate.”

Longtime neighbor responds to flyers

Michelle Jensen has lived in the Morgandale neighborhood for 18 years. “I’m just sickened, to be honest, it makes me angry,” she said.

“I’m choosing to believe that this person doesn’t live in my neighborhood.”

Jensen described her neighborhood as “very diverse.” She said it’s been “great” having new communities move into her neighborhood.

“I truly have felt very blessed to live in this neighborhood because I’ve felt so supported by neighbors,” Jensen said. “This makes me feel uncomfortable and not safe in the neighborhood.

“People have taken it too far, their political divide. What an idea to think that it’s OK to hate like this. It’s just gone too far.

“I really feel like it should be followed up on by the police. That’s a serious threat and it makes me fear for my neighbors.”

Drake Bentley can be reached at DBentley1@gannett.com.