One flier states: “Our slogan is: Our Race is Our Religion. Is that hate?…We obey the first and highest law of nature, the preservation of our own race. Is that hate?…We of the Church of the Creator neither condone violence or unlawful activities nor do we promote and incite them.”
Another reads: “In The Name of the White Race: A Declaration of Independence from Jewish Tyranny…the Jews have made it their primary goal to mongrelize, kill, decimate and otherwise destroy the white race…we are determined: To throw off the yoke of Jewish tyranny and control.”
According to Walnut Creek Police Sgt. Mike Mclaughlin, printing the flier is legal. However, a municipal code prohibits the unauthorized distribution of leaflets on cars and on private property.
Six young adults, ranging in age from 17 to 25, admitted to dropping the leaflets in Clayton. One of them, Bartley Powell of Auburn, is employed by the Church of the Creator. Two of the others had swastika tattoos.
According to a Clayton Police Department report, the men were not violent. They were informed of the municipality code prohibiting the distribution of literature at homes and parking lots and promised to advise the city if they plan to return for the purpose of handing out literature.
This isn’t the first time the Church of the Creator has made its presence known in the East Bay.
A few years ago, the Church of the Creator dropped books titled “On the Brink of a Bloody Racial War: With a White Race Targeted for Extermination” on doorsteps in Berkeley and the Oakland hills.
Riva Gambert, associate director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Greater East Bay, said, “This was obviously done with Yom Kippur in mind.
“This is a time of great vulnerability to the Jewish community. We’re all in synagogue and outside there’s a message of hate on the most holy day of the Jewish year.”
However, she contends that central Contra Costa County “is not a place Jewish people need to fear. I’ve seen very good relations and great understanding of the Jewish faith.”
Gambert hopes to work with local churches and local elected officials in denouncing the hateful messages.
“This was effective last year when a Judaica store was the target of anti-Semitic graffiti artists,” she said. “In the end, the civic community and communities of faith responded in a way that alleviated the fear of the community.
“It was affirming that so many people expressed their strong condemnation of the act of vandalism.”