Dave Bangert

Journal & Courier

West Lafayette police on Monday were trying to figure out why fliers talking about taking out singer-songwriter Jackson Browne – and by extension “college liberals” who didn’t agree with President Donald Trump – wound up this weekend tied to storm doors and bundled on driveways of a near-Purdue University neighborhood.

Police had several reports and picked up at least 50 fliers that called for Browne to get it, “Bam! Right between the eyes.” The fliers were rolled up with two or three sheets and, in some cases, with a nail and delivered in a portion of the New Chauncey neighborhood, a few blocks east of Purdue’s Mackey Arena.

The unsigned, uncredited fliers included the warning,: “Hey, you p---- college liberal’s (sic), its Trump time now, shut your mouth or pay the consequences!! Just like this (piece of crap)!!”

“I had to look up Mr. Browne’s tour schedule to see whether he was coming to Purdue or something, and I just missed it,” said Capt. David Van Vactor of the West Lafayette Police Department. “It’s pretty random, and it’s pretty strange. … I’m not sure where this will lead, but we’re looking into it.”

Charlie Tritschler received one in his Meridian Street driveway on Saturday.

“I would consider it a rant, rather than a threat to our safety,” Tritschler said. “We didn’t allow this to much affect our lives. But why? It took quite a bit of effort, I’d say.”

Tritschler did share a copy with West Lafayette Mayor John Dennis when he went to the Morton Community Center for an exercise class and called the police as neighbors compared notes.

The fliers were similar to ones that surfaced in April ahead of a Windsor, Ontario, performance by the singer of hits “Running on Empty” and “Doctor My Eyes” at Caesars Palace Auditorium, according to a CBC News report. In that case, the fliers showed an ‘80s-era photo of Brown, calling on Canadians to exercise U.S. 2nd Amendment rights and “shoot a socialist.” It concluded: “We’re gunna (sic) shut this f-----‘s mouth permanently!!!”

According to CBC News, the show went on, though security was increased.

Browne's publicists with Jensen Communications were not immediately available Monday for comment.

The West Lafayette fliers feature the same photo of Browne, calling him the “head of the snake” of a socialist plot conspiring to “give away our great Christian nation to (gays), criminals and terrorists.” Browne has been outspoken through the decades on a number of environmental and social causes. As on the Canadian version, it calls to “take out” Browne. A second sheet calls out “college liberals” with vague threats.

“I briefly feared that the perpetrator targeted houses with yard signs welcoming immigrant neighbors, but I later saw them at every house along Meridian – and many on North Chauncey (Avenue) – suggesting an arbitrary process,” said Ted Fondak, who received one of the fliers. “I’m just baffled by the content. Its audience seemed to be white nationalists – a call to arms – but delivered to houses on liberal blocks of West Lafayette? Weird.”

The fliers follow a semester when students from the Purdue Social Justice Coalition occupied Hovde Hall, Purdue’s main administrative building, for three months over the degree to which President Mitch Daniels denounced fliers posted in November by a white nationalist group.

Van Vactor said police had no suspects and weren't sure about the motivation to deliver them.

“It’s not really clear why something would pop up like this,” Van Vactor said. “It is a bit weird.”

Reach Dave Bangert at 765-420-5258 or at dbangert@gannett.com.