The source of the fliers is identified as the National Alliance, a group described as neo-Nazi.
By JON WILSON
Published September 17, 2003
ST. PETERSBURG - Racist fliers were dropped on driveways in St. Petersburg neighborhoods this past weekend.
The 81/2- by 11-inch pieces of paper, stuffed into plastic sleeves, accuse politicians and minorities of ruining the future of white children. The message was placed under a photo of a girl and a headline that read "Missing."
The distribution apparently was part of an effort carried on in several states the past few days by a group called the "National Alliance," deemed neo-Nazi by organizations that monitor extremists.
Similar fliers were reported distributed in parts of Maryland, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska and Arizona.
In St. Petersburg, they showed up in Bahama Shores, a comfortable neighborhood in the far southeastern part of the city.
David Baras, a physician, said he was retrieving his newspaper Saturday morning when he saw the fliers next to it. At first he thought it was an ad about a missing child. Then he read the message.
"I'm upset with the content of what they are trying to promote. It's pure hatred. It's antiblack, it's anti-Hispanic. It's just terrible," said Baras. He said he saw the fliers elsewhere in Bahama Shores, Greater Pinellas Point and Colony Point.
On its Web site this morning, the National Alliance criticized an Arizona newspaper for what the alliance said were claims the flier distribution was timed to coincide with the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Actually, the Web site said, the distribution commemorated the birthday of alliance founder William Pierce, now dead, who wrote a book called The Turner Diaries.
It was a favorite of Timothy McVeigh, executed for the 1995 bombing in Oklahoma City.
Authorities have said they doubt National Alliance members live in St. Petersburg. The Web site lists an Orlando phone number, which is no longer in service.
