Standing united against hate: Volusia, state officials denounce antisemitism in press conference

The press conference was held after a recent string of antisemitic incidents in the county.

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Standing together as a united front, the Volusia Sheriff’s Office and various religious and community leaders in a Feb. 27 press conference condemned the actions of a hate group that has been spreading antisemitic flyers. State officials also presented an anti-hate crime bill at the conference. 

Last week, a series of antisemitiic incidents occurred throughout Volusia County: People with antisemitic signs stood beside the Daytona International Speedway, and homes in Daytona Beach and Ormond Beach, which has a significant Jewish population, received antisemitic flyers. 

Law enforcement officers believe the people behind the acts are part of the “Goyim Defense League,” a “small network of virulently antisemitic provocateurs,” according to the Anti-Defamation League. Goyim is a disparaging Yiddish and Hebrew word for non-Jews. 

This isn’t the first time antisemitic flyers have been delivered to local homes. 

Last year, in late February, flyers were delivered to homes on Riverside Drive in Ormond Beach. In December 2021, two men were arrested for vandalism with antisemitic messages. 

“These scumbags came to the wrong county,” Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said at the press conference. “We have unity in this county. We stand beside one another in this county, and we stand beside our Jewish neighbors.”

This isn’t a free speech issue: It’s about violence, the sheriff said, adding that one of the GDL members shot two Jewish Orthodox men outside their synagogue in Los Angeles two days after the incident at the Speedway. 

Other members of the neo-Nazi group have been previously arrested for trying to solicit sex from minors. 


'There is no place for hate here'

The press conference highlighted 14 people involved with the group, including its leader, Jon Minadeo II, who moved from California to Florida in December 2022. 

State Rep. Randy Fine, who represents Brevard County, spoke at the press conference. He is the only Jewish member of the Republican party at the state level, and presented House Bill 269 as a response to the recent incidents. 

“[HB 269] will make clear that, while you have the right to be an idiot, and you have the right to be Nazi, and you have the right to walk down the street and say whatever you want, that when your speech turns into conduct, that is where we draw the line,” Fine said. 

The bill proposes that printed materials containing anti-religious or anti-ethnic rhetoric leading to littering will be a third-degree felony. It also proposes that a person who harasses, follows or interferes with someone due to their religious or ethnic garb, or defaces public or private property with symbols such as swastikas, be charged with a third-degree felony.

So far, Fine said, 42 of the 120 members of the Florida House have cosponsored the bill. He will pursue making the bill, if approved, go into effect immediately after the governor signs it.

Ormond Beach Mayor Bill Partington said the city stands with its Jewish residents and those of neighboring cities.

“I want to be clear: There is no place for hate here,” he said. “We stand united against any form of bigotry and discrimination. The recent incidents are not representative of who we are as a community, and the outsiders who felt the need to spread their awful message should know that we are a diverse and inclusive community that welcomes everyone, regardless of their race, religion or background.”

In a statement, Ormond Beach Police Chief Jesse Godfrey said no form of hate or discrimination toward any group of person will be tolerated in the city. 

He urged people to support the Jewish community by volunteering at the Jewish Federation of Volusia and Flagler Counties, donating to Jewish causes or simply speaking out against antisemitism.

“I would like these recent incidents to have the opposite effect that the perpetrators intended,” Godfrey said. “As a community, we need to come together and take action to support the Jewish community in Ormond Beach and beyond.”


Do not remain silent

Rabbi Ron Lennick, executive director of the Jewish Federation, said the rash of antisemitic and hate incidents, brought to Volusia by outsiders, “is an affront to our Jewish community and general community.” Quoting Elie Wiesel, author and Holocaust survivor, Lennick urged the community not remain silent on this issue.

“Our Jewish community is ready to stand in an alliance against hate to defend all at-risks groups in our community if they’re ever objects of hate, as we are experiencing right now,” Lennick said.

Rabbi Pinchas Ezagui, of Chabad Lubavitch of Greater Daytona, told the story of a man who woke up in the early hours of the morning to pick up the antisemitic flyers from his neighbors’ driveway. He isn’t Jewish. 

“You dispel darkness by adding more light,” said Ezagui, who is one of the longtime rabbis in the city. “More love. More action. More good things.” 

Rev. Ronald Durham, president of the Volusia County Democratic Black Caucus, cited a recent report by the ADL that identifies an upward trend of extremist, antisemitic activity in Florida, driven in part by new white supremacist groups. Representatives of different faiths and ethnic backgrounds stand together to repudiate those beliefs, Durham said. 

“These acts of intimidation, including projecting slurs on buildings, flyers distributed on personal property in our community, and hate signs held in public events, are doing nothing more than strengthening the resolve of the Jewish, black and all minority communities to stand together in solidarity with equal resolve,” he said. “Although the GDL and their cohorts may no longer be wearing hoods and robes, their modus operandi is a parallel demonstration that we see time and time again in the past. And if history is any indicator of the outcome, if we say and do nothing, we run the risk of letting history repeat itself.”

 

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