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.

Reporter-anchor Tajma Hall says she’s leaving WDJT-TV (Channel 58) after two years at the Milwaukee CBS affiliate “to pursue new opportunities.”

In a post on Facebook Wednesday, Hall, who has been at Channel 58 since February 2022, said she’s leaving the station early in 2025.

Hall anchors Channel 58’s Saturday morning newscast, along with her reporting shifts and fill-in anchor duties. She came to Milwaukee from Madison, where she was an anchor-reporter for two years at WMTV-TV; before that, she was a reporter-anchor at WEAU-TV in Eau Claire.

MILWAUKEE – At the Marcus Performing Arts Center, a treasured Christmas tradition takes center stage.

Seeing “The Nutcracker” ballet can be mesmerizing, from the leaps, to the lights to the loud sudden noises. Last week, the Milwaukee Ballet went without some of those elements – for good reason.

Before “The Nutcracker” begins, Evan Sulik and his mother Michelle are on their own adventure, meeting the characters ahead of a sensory-friendly performance.

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“We purposely come to sensory night for ‘The Nutcracker’ every year,” Michelle Sulik said.

Many dancers walk out in costume beforehand to interact with kids. These connections help create familiarity when performers take the stage.

“I feel so happy,” Evan Sulik said.

Rachel Howell is community engagement manager at the Milwaukee Ballet. The performance planned for this night will have relaxed house rules and other changes for people who may struggle with a traditional theater environment. 

“Taking his mask off so they can tell that it’s a person playing this role might allow them to stay throughout the entirety of the performance without being nervous,” Howell said. “The show in general will be a little more muted. No loud sounds, no smoke, no haze. Things like that could be jarring.”

Some of Evan’s friends have come because they need accommodation.

“Whether it’s the lights up, or if they need to hoot and holler and get up and move. They can hoot and holler and get up and move,” Michelle Sulik said. “This is the only way that they can sit through the show.”

It was the first meet and greet since the COVID-19 pandemic. Families captured the warm moments.

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“For him, it opened up ballet for him,” Michelle Sulik said. “Small accommodations open it up so that the arts are for everyone. And they really wouldn’t have that opportunity otherwise. Small things make a big impact.”

The goal of the one-night experience is clear: the power of the arts for all.

“Making ballet more accessible for people,” Howell said.

“The Nutcracker” runs through Christmas Eve, but this was the only sensory-friendly night.

The Milwaukee Ballet still has tickets available.