Sandwich bags containing misinformation and hate speech have repeatedly shown up in the driveways of neighborhoods in Bowie, Maryland, and the police chief says there’s no place for it in his community.
The first call from a resident reporting odd bags dropped in Bowie driveways came in last weekend.
“And inside those baggies was a pamphlet or a piece of paper that contained antisemitic rhetoric, talking about COVID being a hoax and talking about how people of the Jewish faith were responsible for it,” Chief John Nesky said.
Then, the same type of baggies that were weighed down by deer corn were reported again Thursday. This time, the pamphlets referenced the Black Lives Matter movement.
“They are the same pamphlets we’re seeing in Annapolis, parts of D.C. and Fairfax County. So it is definitely nothing that is localized to the City of Bowie. It’s something that’s happening across the region, unfortunately,” Nesky said.
Neighbors have shared security video of someone in a car dropping the bags off at the ends of driveways in two separate neighborhoods, and he said he’s working with other law enforcement agencies to determine if there’s a pattern to what they’ve learned from the videos.
“The false rhetoric and the hateful speech included on these pamphlets are by no means indicative of our community values,” he said.
If you know anything about where the bags are coming from, call Bowie Police at 240-544-5700.