It was late March when the professional-looking, xenophobic and racist signs popped up along the E. Colfax corridor near the Capitol building in Denver. And then more appeared in late August.
- “Caution undocumented immigrants”
- “Migrant Hookers”
- “Blacks must sit at the back of the bus/Kamala’s migrants sit at the front”
- “Caution: Kamala’s illegals”
- “Undocumented Democrats”
Christopher Balli, a 56-year-old man identifying as a conservative “street artist” who goes by the name Sabo took credit for the signs, and is now facing misdemeanor charges. Responding via email inquiry, the Media Relations Unit of the Denver Police Department provided more detail:
“On Thursday, September 5, 2024, Denver Police issued a citation to 56-year-old Christopher Balli for a violation of Denver Municipal Code Sec. 3-1 – Posting on public or private property. The citation stems from the illegal posting of signs on city street sign poles on March 22, 2024
“The signs were found at the following locations:
- W. 12th Avenue/N. Acoma Street
- Two signs; one depicting silhouettes of women and the words ‘Migrant Hookers’, the other stating ‘25 Dollars’
- W. Colfax Avenue/N. Broadway
- Three signs depicting silhouettes of people and the words ‘Caution’, ‘Dumbmockracy’, and ‘Undocumented Democrats’
- 1400 block of N. Grant Street
- Three signs; one depicting silhouettes of people (some armed with weapons) and the words ‘Caution Undocumented Democrats’, and a pair of signs depicting silhouettes of women with the words ‘Migrant Hookers’ and ‘20 Dollars.’”
According to DPD officials, the Denver Police Bias Motivated Crime Unit was originally assigned to the investigation. Ultimately, the Denver District Attorney’s office declined to pursue charges under the Bias Motivate Crime Statute.
“The Bias-Motivated Crime statute (CRS 18-9-121) regarding property requires that the conduct caused damage to the affected property,” Denver DA spokesman Matthew Jablow wrote in an email to the Denverite that was published in an article on Sept. 10. “In this case, the signs were attached in a way that did not permanently damage property or result in a significant cost to remove and remediate. This would prevent our office from proving that element of the potential crime beyond a reasonable doubt, and prosecutors have an ethical duty only to charge cases with a reasonable likelihood of conviction.”
And while the it’s clear that the charges stemming from Balli’s sign posting in March are only resulting in misdemeanor charges — which carry a punishment of up to 300 days in jail and a $999 fine — the incidents in late August are still a separate, if connected matter.
“Investigators continue investigating the posting of similar signs in Denver on August 29, 2024,” the DPD official relayed via email. “It appears at this stage of the investigation that the incidents are related. An arrest/citation has not been made, at this time, related to the August 29th case.”
Meanwhile, it’s also a bit confusing as to how and why there was as much attention given to Balli’s signs, when others have long been engaged in distributing and posting hate-filled rhetoric on Denver streets, such as the so-called “Goyim Defense League,” a cowardly group of self-identified neo-Nazis who have littered neighborhoods in Denver as well as other neighborhoods across the state — and around the nation — with flyers brimming over with antisemitic content for years.
According to the DPD spokesperson I emailed back-and-forth with, “The Denver Police Department’s Bias-motivated Crime Unit investigated multiple incidents involving the Goyim Defense League… The primary difference in the outcome of these incidents compared with the case involving Mr. Balli is that detectives were unable to identify a suspect. Also, it appears from reports that the manner in which the fliers were distributed was different than Mr. Balli’s affixing of signs to city street sign poles.”
The nuance is marginal at best. Most of the drivel being promulgated by the GDL consists of flyers stuffed into Ziploc bags weighted with pebbles or rice and tossed onto people’s driveways and porches. And they’re not the only one — myriad neo-Nazi and antisemitic groups have adopted similar propaganda tactics, often slapping stickers and posters in public places, such as the Patriot Front, who defaced public property last month in Superior with material using their coded antisemitic language.
And the GDL’s flyers and stickers have been affixed to public and private structures without permission as well. This activity does appear to violate the same municipal code Balli has been charged with.
According to Denver Municipal Code Sec. 3-1 – Postong on public or private property:
- It shall be unlawful to post, paint or attach, or to directly or indirectly cause to be posted, painted or attached in any manner, any handbill, poster, advertisement or notice of any kind upon public property except by permission of the manager of transportation and infrastructure pursuant to established rules and regulations, or on private property except by permission of the owner or authorized agent of the owner of such property.
- Any handbill or sign found posted, or otherwise affixed upon any public property contrary to the provisions of this section, or the rules and regulations promulgated hereunder, may be removed by the police department or the department of transportation and infrastructure.
- The person responsible for causing the unlawful posting of any notice described herein will be liable for the cost of removal. Persons liable under this section include, but are not limited to, any individuals or businesses whose advertisement, message or information appears on or is contained in notice posted unlawfully.
Given that, and the fact that the GDL literally puts their logo on their poorly designed, barely literate propaganda, it’s still unclear as to why more hasn’t been done to curb their behavior.
And yet, it also isn’t that unclear either.
No slight against the DPD but one thing has become crystal clear over the last few years, and proven beyond any doubt since Oct. 7, 2023: Antisemitism is now a socially acceptable hate.
Buyoed by the most effective propaganda campaign in the last century driven by literal decades of Islamist effort, we exist in the most antisemitic environment since the Holocaust. Here we are, just days after the 23rd aniversary of 9/11, watching a far-too-large segment of American and Western society eagerly marching in support of terrorism writ large as comitted by Islamist groups including Hamas, Houthis, Hebollah, Isis, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and others. Legions of leftists continue to engage in antisemitic activity, from online bullying to destruction of Jewish-owned properties, businesses, schools, synagogues, to physical attacks and even homicide… here are just 10 of examples from the last month:
- Sept. 8: A man was caught on a Jewish family’s Ring camera urinating all over their front porch and door while shouting antisemitic slurs.
- Sept. 8: Swastikas and antisemitic hate messages were spray painted on sidewalks and buses at a YMCA early in the morning where multiple Jewish sports league were being hosted.
- Sept. 4: A Jewish barber in New York was stabbed with his own scissors by a man after an argument about Israel.
- Sept. 4: A Pakistani national was arrested by Canadian law enforcement agents for planning a terror shooting attack on an undisclosed Jewish center in Brooklyn.
- Aug. 31: A man assaulted two Jewish students with a glass bottle on the University of Pittsburgh campus.
- Aug. 24: A man wearing a Palestinian flag and a keffiyeh firebombed a synagogue in France.
- Aug. 21: Bomb threats were sent to more than 100 Jewish schools, synagogues and other institutions across Canada.
- Aug. 19: Police arrested 7 Islamist terrorists who were planning an attack on Jewish targets, including synagogues, in Argentina.
- Aug. 11: A man yelling “Free Palestine!” stabbed a Jewish man on the street in NYC.
- Aug. 5: The Anne Frank statue in Amsterdam was vandalized for the second time in less than a month.
During the Obama administration, I witnessed a steady stream of examples of anti-Black hatred populate social media discourse. I was aghast at some of the horrific things said about the First Family on Twitter and Facebook and other popular social media platforms. But one thing almost all of the culprits had in common — they remained anonymous.
And while the vast majority of pro-Hamas rally-goers prefer to cover their face with culturally appropriated keffiyehs in the streets, online is a different place, where people all over the world have no issue now posting reels on Instagram or videos on TikTok or whatever they call posts on X now (exes?) openly calling for attacks on Jews, lauding Adolf Hitler and worse. And the rising tide of Jew-hatred is lifting all boats, as neo-Nazis are besides themselves with glee watching this activity take place, and only too eager to join in. This is accelerationism playing out exactly as I’ve written about before.
The horseshoe theory is in full effect when it comes to Jews now. In the last few years, bolstered by the growing celebrity of people like Nick Fuentes, Candace Owens, Kanye West, Jackson Hinkle, Lucas Gage, and others with enormous social followings, those with antisemitic leanings don’t appear to fear social repercussions for espousing their hate. And while so-called “pro-Palestinian” camps continue to only target Jewish people, synagogues, institutions and businesses, the farce that they’re specifically lamenting the Israeli government has become utterly transparent.
And there’s nothing to suggest it’s abating any time soon.
