Flyers Promoting Known White Nationalist Blog Plastered Around Placerville
PLACERVILLE (CBS13) — Several business owners in downtown Placerville were shocked Tuesday to find flyers plastered on storefronts in area, promoting a known white nationalist extremist blog and podcast.
Melissa Cowan, owner of Flowers on Main, said she had one stuck to her store window. Pieces of it were still evident on Wednesday.
"It feels a little bit like an assault on our Main Street," Cowan said. "It was really disheartening to find out it was tied to Neo-nazi and racial hate."
Most of the flyers promoted a link to a known white nationalist website. Another link sends people to a website to sign up for the "Placerville Poster Project." Other flyers read "it's ok to be white."
Dozens of them were spotted around the downtown area on Tuesday. Placerville Police are looking into the number of posters scattered around the area, and have not yet determined if these flyers could be categorized under a hate crime.
Most of the flyers were removed, but pieces of paper and glue were still stuck on many business windows. For Regina Golubkov, it wasn't a welcome sight.
"We want equality and it's just disturbing to see those signs," Golubkov said. She said these days she fears leaving her house. "I'm just worried about being the next person attacked — being a brown person."
Some businesses were unaffected at all, like HeyDay Cafe. Owner Ben Carter said it's still frustrating though, believing businesses have been through enough these days with the pandemic.
"Nobody needs to deal with that right now, nobody does," Carter said. "You're welcome to protest and do your thing – but don't broadcast it on other people's property."
For Cowan, she takes comfort in feeling these ideals don't represent her downtown family.
"We should focus on that's a small – small part of any community," Cowan said.
Placerville Police are actively investigating the incident. If anyone knows anything, they're asked to contact law enforcement.
