'White Lives Matter' Flyers Scattered In Greendale Neighborhood

GREENDALE, WI — Residents of Greendale awoke this weekend to find "white lives matter" flyers scattered around part of the village, according to reports.

Village officials estimated that around 100-200 copies were found. Photos posted to social media showed a flyer containing written claims similar to the "great replacement theory," which Associated Press defines as a racist conspiracy theory asserting there is a plot to reduce white people's influence. Greendale's population is about 85 percent white, 7.3 percent Asian, 5.8 percent Hispanic or Latino, and 1.4 percent Black.

Sarah Kendall, a Greendale resident who found the flyers Sunday morning just blocks from an elementary school, told WTMJ-TV “It made me feel really mad cause these people are kind of just spreading hate here where it’s a very happy area.”

The Greendale Police Department announced Monday it is investigating the matter and asked anyone with information to call them at 414-423-2121. In a Facebook post, the department strongly condemned racist speech.

"We stand in solidarity with the residents of Greendale against racism and other forms of bigotry," the department wrote.

At least one person on Sunday morning reported sandwich baggies filled with "rice and racist literature" having been spread around the area of Eastway Circle, Greendale police logs showed.

After reports of the flyers, police and others worked to clean them up, Village Manager Mike Hawes told Patch. Hawes estimated there were nearly 200, but said there wasn't a firm number. They seemed to be distributed around the Eastway loop, according to Hawes.

"It's not representative of our community and our values," Hawes said.

"At this point, we're trying to gather as much information we can and understand, is this just an isolated issue, do we know who this is, or is it somebody in Greendale?" Hawes told Patch.

Village President Jason Cyborowski told Patch that "by no means do I support this or accept this," adding that he plans on making a statement at Tuesday's Village Board meeting.

People Advocating for Greendale Equity, a local organization founded with the goal of uplifting voices, said that the flyer's result for people of color in Greendale is fear, regardless of where the flyers came from.

"We're just hoping that people can realize through this, that this really is a problem," said Nat Godley, vice president of PAGE.

PAGE distributed yard signs with the message "hate has no home here" to village residents in the wake of the flyers, Godley.

"Racist hate like this is real, it is here in Greendale, and it harms people," PAGE wrote in a Facebook post on Monday.

This story will be updated.