Some Cal Poly students in the neighborhoods surrounding campus awoke Sunday morning to unexpected flyers on their porches.
Graphic communications senior Anjali Shute found a bag on her driveway less than a mile off campus.
“I noticed that the flyers were all up and down the street, in Ziplock bags filled with sand,” she said.
The flyers include a link to a Telegram chat for the California Blackshirts, a self-described “pro-white activism” group formed earlier this year.
This is not the first local incident related to this group. The California Blackshirts were also connected to several overpass banner displays in Paso Robles, Templeton and San Luis Obispo throughout the last six months.
Similar flyers were also discovered in Grover Beach in August, according to a Grover Beach Police Department news release.
“I’m not super shocked that this is happening in SLO,” Shute said. “But it definitely is an awareness check that not everybody in the community that I live in shares the same views that I have, and that could be potentially dangerous for certain communities within SLO.”
Christine Wallace, the San Luis Obispo Police Department’s public affairs manager, said the department takes hate incidents and hate crimes very seriously. The San Luis Obispo Police Department encourages community members to report hate incidents through this form available on their website.
“The website allows folks to report incidents directly and the reporting person can stay anonymous if they wish,” Wallace said.
Cal Poly has not received any reports of related activity on campus, according to university spokesperson Matt Lazier.
“We stand with our partners in the city of San Luis Obispo in denouncing actions of hate and in fostering a community in which everyone is valued, respected, and empowered to thrive,” Lazier said.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated on Oct.4 to crop the featured image to remove a URL from being viewable. This is in an effort not to act as an advertisement for the organization referenced in this story.