White supremacist fliers have reemerged in the Cedar Valley. It's the latest in a string of hate-speech incidents in the area since July.
First, anti-immigration stickers and cards were distributed around Cedar Falls and Hampton at Latino-owned businesses over the summer. That was followed by the appearance of similar materials in the Cedar Falls Public Library about a month before the election.
Roughly a week ahead of the election, other stickers were put up on streetlight posts between Cedar Falls and Waterloo by members of the Patriot Front, a fascist organization that held various gatherings in 47 states in September and October.
Now, over Veterans Day weekend in Waterloo, several residents have reported receiving fliers for the Aryan Freedom Network, a white supremacist group that claims official chapters in over half of the 50 states.
Waterloo Police recorded at least two other incidents of fliers over the weekend.
This marks the first distribution of AFN propaganda. The fliers are seemingly unrelated to the previous anti-immigration and white supremacist material in the area.
The fliers ask recipients if they will “answer the call” of their race, and claim the AFN is everywhere, that they are “blue collar, white collar, and everything in between.”
At the bottom, they offer a disclaimer that they are “distributed without malicious intent,” while also featuring Nazi iconography of a death’s head, acorns and oak leaves, which have roots in Nazi Germany’s armed forces.
'There is no place for hate groups'
In a statement, Waterloo Mayor Quentin Hart condemned the message of the fliers and their appearance around Veterans Day.
“I am deeply disturbed by the recent reports of racist extremist groups distributing recruitment materials in our community,” he said. “As a dedicated public servant who has recently been the target of discrimination and threats, I want to be clear: There is no place for hate groups in Waterloo.”
“It’s unfortunate that on a day dedicated to our brave veterans, that have fought for our freedoms, regardless of race, gender or difference, we must pause to comment about racist supremacists that want further division,” Hart added.
Mayor Hart has said the Department of Justice has been contacted about the fliers, and several Waterloo and Cedar Falls residents have attempted to contact the DOJ, as well. An investigation is underway.
According to its website, the Aryan Freedom Network currently has no dedicated chapter in Iowa, but it does list one in neighboring Wisconsin. The last listed event for that chapter was in July.
None of Iowa’s other five bordering states have an official AFN chapter.
The group was founded in 2018 and is based in De Kalb, Tex. It has strong ties to that state’s Ku Klux Klan chapter.
