PEABODY, MASS. (WHDH) - A neighborhood in Peabody has been hit by hate.
Sasha Gillan said she discovered a sticker promoting a white supremacist group stuck to her home. After she removed it, she says another was put in its place.
Gillan said these messages and recruiting efforts are a threat to the community and city leaders must do more to stop them.
“People walk by these, right? And if they don’t get taken down they do become part of the fabric of the neighborhood,” she said. “The idea that it has to be up to residents to look out for these things, and call them in, and then wait for somebody to come out and care about it is not okay.”
Peabody is just the latest community on the North Shore to be targeted by these groups.
Executive Director of the Anti-Defamation League’s Boston office Robert Trestan agreed that it is important for leaders to take action.
“There’s always a risk and a danger that these messages incite and inspire people to commit violence,” said Trestan. “We also run the risk if we don’t take it seriously of suddenly becoming immune and numb to messages of hate in our communities.”
He went on to say the ADL has seen a recent spike in activity from these groups throughout New England.
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