The Poway City Council unanimously approved an urgency ordinance banning the distribution of hate litter at the Nov. 7 council meeting.
“We said it back in April of 2019 when the Chabad tragedy took place – hate has no place in Poway,” Mayor Steve Vaus said as he introduced the item. “That still stands today.”
In 2019 one community member died and three others were injured at Chabad of Poway by a gunman who had posted an antisemitic and racist open letter on the internet prior to the shooting. Hateful flyers were recently left around a neighborhood near Chabad, and Mayor Vaus said he was shocked to find out that even if the perpetrators were caught, the penalty was minimal.
“I strongly believe we need to implement penalties to discourage such cowardly acts,” he said.
“Hate litter - that is intended to frighten, intimidate, harass members of any protected class - will not be tolerated in Poway.”
The urgency ordinance went into effect immediately. In the City of Poway, it is now unlawful and a public nuisance to distribute or dump materials in a public area with the intent to willfully injure, intimidate, interfere with, oppress, harass, or threaten anyone based on a protected classes as defined by state and federal laws.