For the second time in a week, residents in Connecticut have found racially charged leaflets on their lawns, which are showing up amid riots in Baltimore over the police-custody death of Freddie Gray and protests around the nation in response to the case.
Residents of East Haven are finding fliers that read “#WHITE LIVES MATTER,” inside plastic bags, weighted down by stones. This comes days after Milford residents found similar leaflets.
There is no indication of who was responsible for the latest round of fliers.
“I guess it’s just somebody trying to put their thoughts to what’s going on as well. Hopefully nothing bad comes from it,” East Haven resident Mike Meisner said.
Freddie Gray died of a mysterious spinal injury he suffered while in police custody. On Friday morning, officials in Maryland said six Baltimore police officers involved in the arrest Gray have been charged, including one of them with murder.
Several residents who have lived in East Haven for decades said they’ve never had racial problems, so they’re not sure why anyone would drop the leaflets in their community.
“It’s calm and quiet here. They want to start something over here now. It’s terrible. I don’t know,” longtime resident Bill Dernago said.
NBC Connecticut reached out to East Haven Mayor Joseph Maturo Jr. for a response to the fliers, but a representative said he had no comment.
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NBC Connecticut has not received a response to requests for comment from East Haven Police.
