The ASU Police Department is working with the Dean of Students Office to investigate antisemitic flyers found on the Tempe campus on Monday, according to an ASU PD spokesperson.
A flyer was found at Hassayampa Academic Village, where the Kosher Bistro is, and another was found near H.B. Farmer Education Building in a newspaper dispenser, said Madeleine Steppel, a representative for Olami ASU, an on-campus organization providing learning opportunities for Jewish students.
The bottom of the flyers featured ASU College Republicans United's logo and stated "Happy Halloween from the ASU College Republicans United!" A photo of the flyer was posted on the Twitter account for StopAntisemitism.org.
In an emailed statement, CRU denied any involvement with the flyers and "denounce(d) the contents of the posters."
"No matter who put up the poster, it is heinous, and the ASU administration, in cooperation with ASU police, need to hold whomever did it responsible," Steppel said in an email. "We also want everyone to remember that you don't have to be Jewish to stand up against hate. It's everyone's responsibility."
An ASU PD spokesperson linked to past statements from ASU addressing antisemitism on campus but did not provide further comment.
In March 2019, the University began investigating CRU for racist remarks following reports from The State Press and Phoenix New Times that showed messages between CRU members using racist and homophobic remarks and antisemitic imagery.
In the Fall 2020 semester, CRU again drew criticism for starting a fundraiser to help cover the legal defense for Kyle Rittenhouse. He is currently on trial and faces six charges for killing two protesters and injuring another with an AR-15-style rifle in Kenosha, Wisconsin, at a demonstration demanding justice for Jacob Blake, a Black man shot by police in the same city.
This was the third reported incident of antisemitic posters on campus in the past two years. In August 2020, Nazi posters glorifying Hitler were found on the Tempe campus. In November 2019, posters with a swastika were found on the Tempe campus. ASU said it was investigating both instances when they occurred.
The Jewish Cultural Coalition at ASU posted a statement on Instagram Tuesday, saying "The ASU Jewish community has faced multiple antisemitic attacks and while we greatly appreciate the support from administration, we would like to see a public statement about the issues that Jewish students face at ASU."
The Coalition is also working on sending emails to the University calling for a public statement.
CRU has reached out to law enforcement and University officials to investigate the incident and "demand(ed) security footage from the areas claimed to have received those flyers be made public," according to an email from the group.
"Whoever is responsible should face severe punishment from the University for wasting everyone's time," CRU said in the email.
ASU College Republicans also released a statement on Twitter about the incident Monday, saying the group's members "strongly condemn" the antisemitic posters.
"Acts like this are counterproductive to the Republican movement and our organization and we wholeheartedly condemn this act of hate and bigotry," said Cohlton Kieffer, the president of ASU College Republicans, in the statement. "We stand with Jewish students and the Jewish Community at ASU," he said.
CRU originally broke off from College Republicans in January 2018 as a more Trump-oriented organization not recognized by the University.
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Morgan Fischer is the politics editor, she works with her desk to cover topics related to politics in the ASU community. She has previously worked as an intern for RightThisMinute.
