By Heather Michon
Correspondent
Several Scottsville residents on both sides of the Fluvanna and Albemarle county lines report receiving neo-Nazi literature outside their homes overnight on Friday. Images of the flyers, headlined “White and Proud!” circulated on social media over the weekend.
The flyers were purportedly from The New Order, a Wisconsin-based hate group that defines itself as “heirs of Hitler” and calls for an all-white society.
This is the second time in two years that racist literature has been distributed in Fluvanna County. In January 2019, several households along the James Madison Highway found flyers from the Loyal White Knights of the Klu Klux Klan.
Late-night drops of racist literature are a common recruitment tactic for hate groups. Just in the last six weeks, communities in California, Indiana, Kentucky, and Texas have reported similar incidents.
While the groups differ, the tactic is the same: flyers are folded and placed in a plastic bag, often with a small rock as a weight.
Major David Wells of the Fluvanna County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on Monday that they were working with Scottsville Police Chief Jeff Vohwinkel in investigating the case. They have also reported the incident to the Virginia State Police Fusion Center for intelligence tracking.
“While we fervently condemn white supremacy and the spreading of such hate-based material, the flyers in and of themselves are Constitutionally protected speech and not unlawful,” he said in his statement. “The means of distribution could make them subject to littering laws.”
He requested that any resident who finds the flyers to report them to the sheriff’s fffice.
Wells also asked that people not circulate images of the flyers to social media, “as it circulates the message and organization.”
