A state lawmaker who is Jewish notified Tucson police Thursday after flyers containing the woman’s address and words critical of her stance on the Israel-Hamas war were circulated throughout her neighborhood.
Rep. Alma Hernandez said she was dumbstruck when she learned what had been circulated overnight.
Not only were the flyers’ words startling enough to read, they also included Hernandez’s personal information, including her home address.
“I don’t understand how anyone in their right mind believes this is okay,” the Tucson Democratic lawmaker said in a social media message.
Hernandez, an active member of the Jewish community, said she fears for her own safety following the recent events.
The flyer’s unidentified author alleged Hernandez is “actively working to silence pro-Palestinian colleagues on a local and national level.”
“… We urge you to have conversations with your neighbor about how she might better use her platform for peace,” the flyer’s message said.
Hernandez said she welcomes constituent conversations, just not on her front doorstep. It is the first time in her six years in office that something like this has occurred, but Hernandez said the rise in antisemitism could mean seeing a lot more situations like hers.
She condemned the flyer’s material, which paints her as someone who supports genocide, among other things.
“This behavior needs to be condemned by the so-called peace and pro-Palestinian groups,” Hernandez wrote. “Add this to the list of 1 million things that will never bring peace, free Palestinians, or force a cease fire.”
The mystery flyers, which found their way into the hands of blocks of neighbors, were meant to disparage Hernandez, but had a much larger impact on the state representative, who said she is now terrified to sleep at home and hesitates to leave the house.
According to Hernandez, the Tucson Police Department has been contacted about the situation and offered to beef up security around the Hernandez home.
“Politics can be very dirty, but there is a fine line we should never cross, and that is targeting people in their own homes or their families,” Hernandez said. “We need to do everything we can to say this is wrong.”
