ST HEDWIG, Texas — A St. Hedwig woman made a disturbing discovery on her front porch.
She found a flyer depicting hateful images of Black people that was taped to a bag of dog food.
It was a message so disturbing, she says she couldn't sleep for days.
The Anti-Defamation League says more people in Texas are finding similar letters on their properties. KENS 5 set out to learn why.
"I want to bring awareness to it because I don't want it to happen to anybody else," said the St. Hedwig woman, who asked KENS 5 to withhold her name from the story.
The woman says she and her husband just moved to St. Hedwig from Columbia, South Carolina.
"This is not how we want to be welcomed to the state," she said.
October 4 is when the woman says she found the flyer on her porch. She guessed it was left earlier in the day, but couldn't see who left it because her security cameras weren't working at the time.
What she saw on the flyer made her burst into tears.
"The cartoon depiction of what they think Black people look like, what they should be hanging from," said the woman. "I cried because you hear about it in other states...but to actually have it in my hand, to see it, was very hurtful."
KENS 5 is not showing the drawings or the website on the flyer promoting white supremacy.
Mark Toubin, the Southwest Regional Director for the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) says displaying the images is exactly what these groups want.
"They want a white America," Toubin explained. "There are at least two, possibly three different groups who are focused on drawing attention to themselves for purposes of raising money for their so-called cause, as well as provoking anxiety and attention."
Toubin says these occurrences are on the rise in Texas in both inner cities and the suburbs, specifically on weekends. The reason why, the ADL says, is these groups are making money off these flyers and they feel empowered with the current political climate.
"In our country, we have the First Amendment and people are allowed to express themselves, no matter how disgusting and despicable their ideas and thoughts might be," said Toubin. "It is beyond exclusionary. It is the worst form of hate."
The St. Hedwig woman asked her neighbors if they got the same flyer. They told her no.
She filed a report with the sheriff's office and got her home security cameras up and working. She's also saying a prayer daily for the people distributing the hateful flyers.
"If you're going to drop [the flyer] off, don't run," she said. "We can have a conversation. To me, that's cowardly when you leave the note and run."
The ADL urges anyone who gets a similar flyer to report it. You can call police, especially when there are threats made in the letters or flyers. When threats are involved, the ADL says law enforcement can investigate possible crimes.
You can also visit ADL.org/ReportIncident so the ADL can have your incident on file.
In addition to reporting incidents, the ADL encourages you to speak out about these occurrences to raise awareness.
"Speak out and speak up and let people know this isn't going to be tolerated in our neighborhood. This isn't who we are," said Toubin. "To send a message to these folks that you will not prevail. You will not win."