Neo-Nazi fliers appear in central Grays Harbor

Many central Grays Harbor residents – including The Daily World – woke up last week with something left on cars and lawns even less welcome than animal droppings: fliers from a white supremacist organization.

The police’s response is simple.

“Just throw it away,” said Cmdr. Steve Timmons of the Aberdeen Police Department.

The fliers, distributed in sandwich bags of rice, possibly to keep them from blowing away, were seen in Aberdeen, Cosmopolis and Hoquiam, according to the police departments. The Aryan Freedom Network, a Texas-based neo-Nazi group, is identified on the fliers.

“I don’t think this is anybody local, personally,” said Chief Heath Layman of the Cosmopolis Police Department in an interview. “I think someone from out of town made a trip in and spread their hate.”

Messages on the fliers varied, from anti-immigrant to anti-LGBTQ to anti-minority, all with a link to a misspelling-laden white supremacist website. Layman said that investigating the website did not turn up any obvious reason the fliers had appeared in Grays Harbor.

“We as an office looked and saw zero correlation to the Harbor,” Layman said.

The phenomenon is a first, officers from all three departments agreed.

“This is new to us,” said Lt. Brian Dayton of the Hoquiam Police Department in a phone interview. “I’ve been here 24 years on the first and this is the first time I’ve come across them.”

The fliers appeared late Monday or early Tuesday, June 5 or 6, Timmons said, first spotted by officers coming on shift early Tuesday morning.

“Early morning, a couple patrol officers saw throughout the town, on sidewalks and porches, and they scooped ‘em up,” Timmons said. “They were proactive and threw them away.”

Layman speculated that houses displaying decorations for Pride Month may have received extra attention from the nocturnal flier-posters.

“We had one reported. I heard a rumor there was more,” Layman said. “They know what steps to follow to not violate constitutional law and city ordinances.”

While the flier-posting is not illegal, police say they’d like a chat with those involved.

“We’d like to have some more information,” Dayton said. “If it’s someone local, we can have a conversation with them and see what their agenda is.”

Anyone who might have camera footage that could identify those responsible for strewing the fliers about the region is asked to contact their local police departments.

This story was originally published June 10, 2023 at 2:41 PM with the headline "Neo-Nazi fliers appear in central Grays Harbor."