Sandusky man arrested on charges of distributing hate crime fliers to residents’ homes

(Metro Creative Connection)

A 22-year-old Sandusky man was arrested on charges of distributing hate crime materials in the form of flyers to inner-city residences earlier this month.

The Sandusky Police Department learned in recent days that hate fliers were being distributed in some areas of the city, according to a news release from Lt. Scott Dahlgren, commander of the police department’s service bureau.

The statement said several residents contacted the police department concerned that they or their neighbors might be targets of hate crimes due to the anti-Jewish, anti-gay and anti-Black messages on the fliers.

Based on information from the investigation, police investigators went to interview the suspect on September 13 at his home in the 100 block of Perry Street.

The man asked detectives if there was an arrest warrant for him before opening the door.

Upon entering the home, police immediately noticed flyers in a shoebox that matched the flyers that had been distributed.

The man sat on a couch under his Nazi flag on the wall, along with a picture of a red wolf insignia, the report said.

He told them that he had spoken to his lawyer, who said that possessing hate symbols was not against the law as long as he did not pin them to mailboxes to explain why he was distributing the materials, according to the report.

Police arrested the man on charges of racial intimidation, aggravated menacing and littering, as well as a bench warrant for stalking threats by telephone, according to police department and Erie County Sheriff’s Office records.

The man remains in the Erie County Jail on $14,750 bail awaiting a hearing Sept. 19 in Sandusky Municipal Court.