Beverly Hills police stepped up patrols after someone left antisemitic leaflets in the front yards of several Beverly Hills homes on the first night of Hanukkah.
A small group gathered at Beverly Hills City Hall to declare they will not be deterred, rallying around each other and denouncing the flyers.
"The message of Hanukkah -- a little bit of light, with a lot of joy, dispels tons and tons of darkness," said Rabbi Shlomo Cunin, the West Coast director of Chabad California.
Rabbi Cunin, organized a public menorah lighting in response to the flyers.
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"Just like you couldn’t do us in years ago, you cannot do us in today," he said.
The flyers had been weighted by a pack of rice so that they wouldn’t blow away.
"It was a very deliberate action," Beverly Hills Mayor Bob Wunderlich said.
Wunderlich says police are investigating the flyers, which alleged a hateful COVID conspiracy.
"What they were doing is that they were connecting Jews with the spread of the COVID pandemic and falsely trying to create the association that Jews are responsible," he said.
Wunderlich says, like other cities in the nation, Beverly Hills has seen a rise in hate incidents during the pandemic.
Hollywood legend Pat Boone says he believes education is the key to driving out hate.
"This is not just a city, this is not just a town, it’s a community, Beverly Hills," he said.
Cunin believes that begins with the youth.
Investigators are still looking for any leads as to who may be responsible for the hateful fliers.
Report any suspicious activity by calling 9-1-1 or the non-emergency dispatch number, 310-550-4951.
