Flyers fanning nativist fears found in Hamilton County communities

Law enforcement agencies in Carmel, Fishers, and Westfield confirmed that they received reports earlier this week from residents who found anti-immigrant propaganda littered around their communities.

The flyers contained xenophobic depictions of immigrants, urged them to leave the U.S., and served as a recruitment tool for a self-styled Ku Klux Klan faction based in Kentucky.

They also threatened deportation of immigrants on January 20, 2025 — Inauguration Day.

President-elect Donald J. Trump promised during his campaign that his administration would conduct mass deportations beginning “on day one.”

The Fishers Police Department said that it doesn’t want to give the group a spotlight.

“We will not share, or comment on this matter as we do not want to draw further attention to this group,” said Sergeant Angela Ellison, a spokesperson for the Fishers police. “We can tell you we had a report of found flyers in our city, which were cleaned up.”

Photos of the flyers circulated on social media, where concerns spread as the messaging gained a larger platform. On reddit, for example, hundreds of comments and several posts denounced the flyers this past week.

Flyering has long been a “low-risk,” documented tactic used for recruitment, publicity, and intimidation by hate groups, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization that tracks them in the U.S.

Although the flyers shared online amplify the issue, Carmel Police Department Deputy Chief D.J. Schoeff said that in this case, it’s likely only a small group looking for attention.

“We believe that we know who the individual is that’s dropping this off,” he said. “We believe this individual lives out of the State of Indiana.”

Concerns weren’t limited to the internet.

Gurinder Kaur is the C.E.O. of the Immigrant Welcome Center. The local nonprofit supports immigrants in Indiana, offers legal resources, English language lessons, and other services.

She said that seeing the flyers reminded her of a moment after September 11, 2001.

“I still recall to this day when I was stopped at a traffic light, and as another vehicle was making a turn, these individuals … leaned out of their windows and said, ‘Go back home.’ So looking at these flyers evokes the same emotions.”

She said she's a naturalized citizen and Indiana is home.

Kaur said she learned about the flyers from one of her organization's board members, who sent her a photo from a community member. After that, she learned more from news reports. Members of the immigrant community expressed fears about the flyers to her.

Local news organizations across the state reported that several other municipalities had been impacted.

Captain Billy Adams told WFYI that the Westfield Police Department also received reports. “It is our understanding that the group responsible is out of Kentucky.”

WFYI has not obtained a physical copy of a flyer, but has requested records from Hamilton County police departments.

In other nearby cities, the situation was different, said police.

“Our agency is aware of this,” said William Young on Wednesday. He's a public information officer for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. “However, to my knowledge I do not have any specifics incidents in (Indianapolis) to share regarding reports, investigations, etc.”

And Noblesville Police Department Lieutenant Bruce Barnes, a spokesperson, also said that his agency was aware of the flyers but didn’t have any reports of them in Noblesville as of Friday evening.

Kaur — of the Immigrant Welcome Center — said that she hopes non-immigrants will arm themselves with knowledge about their neighbors’ lives.

“It is really, really crucial at this time … for general community members to learn about immigrants, to be able to really wade through all of the misinformation and the disinformation that is existing, and stand in solidarity with immigrant neighbors,” she said.

Kaur said the easiest way for non-immigrants to be an ally is to let immigrants know you’re glad they’re here.

She said that fear felt by immigrants upon encountering this type of propaganda is valid, but they should know that there is legal due process in the U.S.

Kaur said immigrants can also speak with elected officials, as they are community members too.

“We have to definitely respond to this xenophobic act where, collectively as a community, we say this is not what our community is about. Our community — Hoosier hospitality — is about welcoming people.”

If you have experienced any actions by hate groups, contact WFYI reporter Zak Cassel at zcassel@wfyi.org.