A Maryland man was seen dropping antisemitic flyers around Palm Beach County, but that wasn’t anything more than a littering citation — until he refused to show his identification to a police officer.
Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg announced Wednesday his office was filing a criminal charge against Nicholas Alan Bysheim of Lusby, Maryland for resisting a police officer without violence.
Legislation that’s been filed would have gotten him sitting in a police cruiser sooner, however.
These incidents of antisemitic messages are becoming more common, but the situation Jan. 21 presented a rare convergence of events for the case to land in court. It wasn’t the hateful messages. It wasn’t the littering. It was the accused’s interaction with police.
“This individual came into our community to cause harm and now is being held accountable,” Aronberg said. “Although distributing messages of hate is not illegal, it is a crime to refuse to provide identification to a law enforcement officer investigating a littering violation.”
The situation reflects how law enforcement’s hands are tied as they deal with most of what’s become a new wave of antisemitic sentiment. It often shows up in plastic bags weighted down to keep from blowing away unread.
Palm Beach County’s Jewish enclaves have experienced a spate of incidents in recent months. No information was available about what specifically these messages said in court documents.
The arrestee filed a public information request for the bodycam footage from the police and all correspondence between police and the Anti-Defamation League, which he called “a Jewish special interest group.”
“My RIGHTS along with my associates were violated … we were exercising our RIGHT to speech and were PROFILED,” Bysheim wrote in the request, suggesting that the officer received ADL training to profile him.
Republican Rep. Mike Caruso of northern Palm Beach County has filed legislation that would make spreading these “messages of hate” more than just a matter of littering.
The bill (HB 269) would make distributing items like Bysheim was distributing — with religious or ethnic animus” — a felony offense. Republican Miami area Sen. Alexis Calatayud has filed similar legislation (SB 994).
““I hope I speak for all the legislators, my fellow legislators, that enough is enough,” Caruso said when the bill was filed.
Aronberg said Caruso, who lives in the northern end of the Palm Beach County, consulted with him before filing the legislation. He applauds his efforts, Aronberg said.
“I would love the law to have more teeth to hold individuals accountable who come into our community who do harm,” Aronberg said “The issue is that the First Amendment is so broad, narrowly tailoring a law that will survive scrutiny is a challenge.”
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Florida Politics writer Jesse Scheckner contributed to this report.
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