Nazi literature found on several local lawns
Published on April 26th, 2006
STONEHAM, MA - On the anniversary of both Adolf Hitler's birthday and the Columbine massacre, a group of blockheaded radicals dropped off nazi literature at a series of random houses in Stoneham - similar to reports in other surrounding towns that experienced the same activity last Wednesday night.
Woburn Police received several reports of similar incidents on or around the same day that Stoneham received the bulk of their complaints.
The packages, described as pages printed off the Internet celebrating Hitler's birthday and including racial slurs, were placed into the sealed plastic bags, weighted down with a series of rocks in the bag and then thrown on people's lawns in a wide swath across the town - including homes on Fiske Ave. at 11:09 p.m. last Wednesday night, and several that were left on the steps of residences on Green Street and Melba Lane and found Thursday morning around 11:25 a.m. Similar notes and rocks were left on properties on Washington Street, Keene Street, Main Street and Graystone Road.
Stoneham Police couldn't determine if there was any connection or pattern to the locations where the racist filth was dumped in Stoneham.
"There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason, they were just dumped on people's lawns without any special pattern," said Stoneham Officer Tom Cullen, who investigated the incidents. "I don't think any of them qualified as hate crimes and they didn't seem to be directed at the individuals living in the homes...they just looked like pages printed off the Internet from a group called the National Alliance. They're the same people that organized that rally in Wakefield a few years back."
Many cities and towns gird up their suspicions and security during the five or six day span covering April 15-20 - a week that has historically brought the radical element out of the woodwork and did so again this year in Stoneham.
"We think they probably drove around town dumping these as they went, and then possibly moved on to other towns doing the same thing," said Cullen.
Stoneham Police are investigating the matter, and are looking for any information in connection with the nazi literature.
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