Fliers distributed citywide contending that Israel will become a superpower if Russia, the United States and Europe are destroyed in a nuclear war or by immigration have attracted a lot of attention, but South Portland police say there is not much that can be done about them – at least from a law enforcement perspective.

The fliers began turning up Wednesday evening on the windshields of cars parked at the Maine Mall in South Portland.

One of the fliers found around South Portland concerns Russian President Vladimir Putin threatening a pre-emptive nuclear attack. Associated Press/ Alexei Nikolsky

Thursday morning, an officer was called to a home on Crossmeadow Road, near the Scarborough town line, where a resident found a flier on the windshield of his car, which had been parked overnight in his driveway.

Police confirmed that two different fliers are being circulated throughout the city. One concerns Russian President Vladimir Putin threatening a pre-emptive nuclear attack and Israel becoming a superpower, and the second discusses the dangers of extraterrestrial involvement in human affairs.

“They are fantastically crazy,” Sgt. Adam Howard said. “But, there is nothing that rises to the level of a hate crime. It’s more conspiracy theory than anything else.”

Howard said police received a call around 7 p.m. Wednesday from the Maine Mall security office, alerting them that shoppers were complaining about the fliers on their windshields.

Howard said police would like to find out who has been distributing the fliers because their messages are “bat crazy.” He said law enforcement would like to know more about the person’s state of mind from a public safety perspective.

The extraterrestrial flier suggests that Allah is an extraterrestrial who grows more powerful by feeding off people’s prayers, Howard said.

Skip Stahl, who lives on Crossmeadow Road, said the flier he found on his windshield seemed to be written as foreign policy analyis before the narrative went off the rails. He said he found the message, especially the references to Israel and how it would stand to benefit from war, offensive.

“It definitely struck me as anti-Semitic,” Stahl said. He described the flier as a “wandering” commentary about war and conspiracy theories.

Howard said residents should contact police if they find more fliers, have concerns, or can identify the person distributing them.

“It’s basically hate speech masquerading as political commentary,” Howard said.

Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at:

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