Dozens of pieces of racist propaganda promoting the white nationalist organization The National Alliance were distributed around downtown Madison and Middleton Sunday.
In response to an appeal for tips on social media, several community members reported rolled-up newspapers adorned with a sticker that said “Send them back” and “they can’t make white babies” appearing in driveways and on sidewalks along Maywood, Elmwood and Hubbard Avenues in Middleton Sunday morning. Others reported the same stickers appearing on parking kiosks in downtown Madison. The stickers carried the name National Alliance and the National Alliance’s website address.
The newspapers — partial editions of a weekly newspaper available for free in the Madison area — did not appear to be delivered by the publisher.
Middleton resident Margaret DeWind, who initially reported she saw several in driveways while walking her dog at a little after 9:30 am Sunday, and when she came across one on the sidewalk, she picked it up. She said it was not damp, despite overnight rain, which made her believe it had been dropped off earlier that morning.
“It makes me feel, ugh,” DeWine said in an interview Sunday. “That was the word that came to mind. I think it’s distressing and despicable. I believe in diversity and inclusion and hate stuff like this, and I hate that it’s in my community.”
Another resident said she felt like her house had been targeted.
In a Facebook message to Madison365, Caitlin Singleton said she lives on Maywood Avenue and has a Black Lives Matter sign in her yard, alongside a Joe Biden campaign sign, and that she got the racist flyer but her neighbors didn’t.
She also said she’s an undecided voter — and that the Biden sign had been placed there by family members.
But she’s probably not undecided anymore.
“They kind of picked the wrong home for this as it definitely sways the undecided to vote democrat,” she wrote.
However, Middleton resident Daniel Bjerre said the flyers on Elmwood seemed to have been randomly tossed at every third or fourth house.
Madison365 also learned of several similar stickers being placed on parking kiosks in downtown Madison. Some of those had the “send them back” message, while others promoted “racial distancing” as a means to avoid COVID-19.
Both flyers promoted the National Alliance, a largely nascent group that once had a strong following. Founded by Turner Diaries author William Pierce in 1970, it was for years the strongest and most dangerous Neo-nazi organization, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Pierce’s novel was apparently the inspiration for Timothy McVeigh’s 1995 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, among other domestic terrorism attacks. After Pierce died in 2002, however, the group mostly fell apart, and now mainly sells books and CDs.
Identical stickers appeared attached to newspapers last year in Iowa.
Another reader, in response to our call for information on social media, reported that copies of the pro-Trump newspaper The Epoch Times appeared along Dolphin Drive on Madison’s southwest side Saturday. They did not have white nationalist propaganda attached, but the newspaper is known for promoting conspiracy theories and far-right ideologies. It is affiliated with the Falun Gong religious movement.
It is not clear whether the two newspaper deliveries were related, or merely coincidental.
Middleton Police had not received any reports related to the racist propaganda as of midday Sunday. Madison365 also reached out to the SPLC on Sunday afternoon for additional information, but has not received a response. This story will be updated if any additional information is received.
