SNOHOMISH COUNTY — Residents in some parts of Snohomish, Monroe and Lake Stevens found literature promoting the “White Lives Matter” movement thrown into their yards during the weekend of Juneteenth celebrations, prompting sharp disapproval from officials.
The literature promotes a 30-minute film that could be classified as racially biased anti-Black propaganda.
Monroe residents in the downtown area found these flyers in their yards Saturday morning hours before that day's Monroe Juneteenth celebration at Sky River Park nearby.
By midday Saturday, Monroe Mayor Geoffrey Thomas issued a statement in response: “Our community stands for the inherent value and dignity of every human being. Our values of being an inclusive community are plainly stated in our City’s vision – that Monroe is a safe place for all, where everyone feels at home and everyone feels they belong.”
Monroe Police Chief Jeff Jolley issued a statement agreeing with Thomas against the literature.
"We recognize the harm and impact that those may have caused," Jolley wrote.
In Snohomish on Saturday night, someone dropped off literature with baggies of corn kernels attached.
Snohomish Police believe no specific homes or residents were targeted for the distribution, Snohomish Police Chief Rob Palmer told the City Council June 20.
“It’s certainly concerning in its context of everything else,” Palmer said.
A police report was taken, Palmer said, but “there isn’t really an ‘investigation’ to do” on these promotional flyers being spread.
Monroe Police also took reports, but could only classify the act as littering as the material on the flyers advertising the movie was not criminal, Monroe Police administrative Cmdr. Paul Ryan said.
Someone also stole a Pride flag from a downtown Monroe residence Saturday, June 17. That act is being investigated as a hate crime, Ryan said.
Snohomish Mayor Linda Redmon said she has chosen not to publicize an official statement about the flyers to not draw more attention on the group, but said in her comments during the June 20 council meeting that “there is no room for bigotry or hatred.”
Representatives of local anti-racism groups Snohomish for Equity and Monroe Equity Community both did not respond to requests for interviews about the flyers.
State-level branches of White Lives Matter posted online that they made a coordinated, multi-state nighttime flyer distribution in multiple cities, from their posts made on the Telegram social media network the Tribune found. The global white supremacy monitoring and tracking firm SITE Intelligence Group reported the same in a weekly report the Tribune accessed.
A Tribune reporter watched the entire film. The film presents a one-sided narrative that white culture is under attack, that non-whites universally dislike whites, and implies it is bad that the US population is predicted to eventually shift where whites will no longer be the 50% absolute majority.
The Southern Poverty Law Center names the White Lives Matter organization as a hate group. White Lives Matter embraces an ideology of white nationalism. It originally formed to counteract the Black Lives Matter movement, some reports say. Some state-level White Lives Matter groups also formally get involved in rallies opposing LGBTQ issues.
In King County earlier this month, White Lives Matter activists painted graffiti and made a flyer distribution there, pictures on its state-level Telegram page indicated. In May for Cinco de Mayo, members held a highway banner above Interstate 5 near Kent telling immigrants to “Return to Mexico.”
