Residents decry 'Nazi recruiting material' from white supremacist group after 'Feminism Is Cancer' signs appear in town
Scattered across a New Jersey town, inflammatory messages, such as “Feminism Is Cancer” and "Love Your Race," have been posted on signs and storefronts, igniting anger within the local community.
As the nation grapples with the rise of hateful white supremacy and violence, residents of Bordentown City, N.J., are decrying the signs they believe to be “Nazi recruiting material” from a white supremacist, anti-semitic group called the New Jersey European Heritage Association (NJEHA).
“They are blaming other races, faiths, and so on for their dismal failures in life,” Bordentown resident Scott Reichek tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “I want to expose them for the sad thing that they are, to discourage people from being taken in by their scam.”
Reichek, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and now stay-at-home dad, tells Yahoo Lifestyle he initially joined the armed forces to “defend the Constitution of the United States, against all enemies, foreign and domestic." That’s why when he discovered “Nazi recruiting materials” in his new town, the veteran immediately jumped into action.
“I lived in Texas most of my 47 years, and I had to come to New Jersey to find actual Nazi recruiting materials,” Reichek said in a Facebook group post Aug. 5, according to local publication NJ.com.
Reichek recently moved to the New Jersey town with his wife and toddler son.
He says he was taken aback several days ago when he saw a sticker that read, “Feminism Is Cancer” in a bold black font with the NJEHA website inscribed below. After coming across a second sticker that read, “Love Your Race” from the same organization, Reichek finally decided to look into the organization behind the “obnoxious” stickers. What he discovered on the website had the veteran up in arms.
“It took about three seconds to determine what they are about, and that the postings are intended as intimidation, and as recruiting materials,” Reicek tells Yahoo Lifestyle.
The front page of the white supremacist website claims the “European race is in a struggle for survival,” and calls on “all American Patriots” to take action.
“The non-Whites who will come to replace us will recreate the failed societies they have fled. Our nations will be plagued with high levels of violence, poverty, corruption and instability,” reads a statement on the group’s website.
The group says it hopes to promote its anti-immigration, anti-Semitic ideas in the public mainstream through flyers, banner drops, flash protests, and more. Another portion of the website boasts of its involvement in several Unite the Right rallies, and refers to the fatal Charlottesville protests as the “2017 Battle of Charlottesville.”
“Our creed can be summed up by fourteen simple words; we must secure the existence of our people and a future for White children,” reads a statement on the NJEHA website.
Reichek filed a complaint with the Bordentown City police on Aug. 7 after learning more about the group’s ideology, calling it “inherently anti-American and incompatible with constitutional principles.”
“I have relatives in Poland and Russia, who are nothing but ashes now because of people like this,” Reichek says. “You really can't say, ‘Never Again,’ and then do nothing.”
Although local business owner Jacqueline Laven saw the “Feminism Is Cancer” stickers nearly a month ago, she only filed a complaint with the police after someone posted a sticker that read “Lover Your Race” on the storefront of her store, Broomstick Betty.
“I reported to the police on Tuesday, when I realized it was an ongoing attempt at intimidation,” Laven tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “It is very dangerous to impressionable people that are looking for an outlet, feeling empowered and naive to the deeper message. I have children and I don’t want them to have to be exposed to this garbage.”
Although Yahoo Lifestyle could not reach the Bordentown City Police Department, the City of Bordentown Mayor James E. Lynch, Jr., says the police are investigating the matter and are working to find the people posting the controversial messages. Lynch says if they discover the identity of the culprits, the city would “definitely charge them.”
“We’re one of the most diverse communities in New Jersey and we’re very proud of it. With what’s going on in our country right now, doing something like this is embarrassing,” Lynch tells Yahoo Lifestyle.
After Yahoo Lifestyle told Lynch about the white supremacist group behind the inflammatory signs in Bordentown City, he replied, “I condemn them. They have no place in Bordentown. We don’t stand for that; we’re not going to put up for that.”
However, Bordentown isn’t the only New Jersey city hit by NJEHA’s propaganda. According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), an organization that has been tracking the activity of NJEHA’s and other hate speech groups, they are “the biggest propaganda spreader in the state.” The organization has even posted its recruitment flyers in states as far as Kentucky and Oklahoma.
Carla Hill, an ADL senior investigative researcher, says the group’s 82 reported incidents of spreading propaganda is part of a nationwide surge of white supremacist rhetoric.
“It’s part of the broader exposure to this language and trying to make this hate mainstream,” Hill tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “We need to push back on this hate language and call it out for what it is. You never know when people will turn this ideology into violence.”
For this reason, Reichek and other Bordentown residents are taking a stand against the white supremacist group. They want to send a message that their “hate” and “divisive agenda” are not welcome in their town.
“They're about intimidation, and the marking of territory. This is my territory, and I won't be intimidated or permit others to be,” Reichek tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “This is our town...It doesn't belong to them, and it never will.”
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