Antisemitic flyers left on vehicles at The Grove

Officials are calling it an isolated incident and that the person responsible has been identified.

LOS ANGELES - Antisemitic fliers were placed on cars at The Grove in the Fairfax neighborhood in Los Angeles over the weekend, in what officials are calling an isolated incident.

Officials with the Grove told FOX 11 that the person responsible has been identified, and that the situation has been turned over to the Los Angeles Police Department.

"We responded quickly," said Rick Caruso, former chariman of the Caruso organization, which operates The Grove. "My team responded quickly, and we have no tolerance for it… We do not tolerate hate speech. We do not tolerate any kind of vile comments against anyone."

The weekend's antisemitic display was the latest in a long line in Los Angeles County over the last year. In May, vehicles sporting antisemitic messaging were spotted in Beverly Hills. In April 2022 and November 2021, antisemitic fliers were found hanging in neighborhoods in Beverly Hills as well.

According to the Anti-Defamation League, hate crimes against Jewish people reached a five-year high in Southern California in 2021.

Remington Franklin, founder of Shabbat Angels, said these displays are nothing new.

"It's not surprising," he said. "It's old as time. Antisemitism is as old as it gets."

It's incidents like this weekend's Franklin said, that reinforce the existence of Shabbat Angels, a group that escorts Jewish people to synagogue. Franklin started the group after an antisemitic attack at a Beverly Grove sushi restaurant that left five people injured last year.

"We’re not always active," but we are active if there’s something that’s concerning or we’re hearing that potential," he said "So this weekend we were active."

Franklin said it's not 1930s Berlin, but everyone still needs to support each other, otherwise evil wins.

"We just need a lot of allies. We need people to stand up and stepping up for the Jewish community. It’s not just limited to what we can do as Jews, we only can do as much as we can, but other people have to step up as well."

The Caruso company issued the following statement to FOX 11:

On Saturday evening, a member of the public committed an act of hate speech by placing flyers on vehicles in The Grove parking structure. The person was quickly identified by our security team and a report was filed with LAPD. The Grove strongly condemns any type of hate speech. We continue to be in touch with LAPD to ensure this remains an isolated incident, as the safety of our community, guests and employees is our utmost priority.

LAPD told FOX 11 that the person responsible for the flyers has been identified, but officers did not say whether he was facing charges.