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Jewish State Senator Targeted By Anti-Semitic Mailer, NYPD Says

By Danielle Tcholakian | November 22, 2016 3:07pm

GREENWICH VILLAGE — State Sen. Brad Hoylman received "three pieces of anti-Semitic propaganda" at his home this weekend, he said.

Hoylman, who is Jewish and openly gay, was in the news last week after swastikas were found etched into an elevator at his apartment building.

READ MORE: Swastikas Found in Building of Openly Gay Jewish New York State Senator

The anti-Semitic mailers he received were first reported by the New York Daily News.

Hoylman said he believes they were sent by "an evangelical Christian organization in Arizona."

He said he opened the mailers on Saturday and went to his local NYPD precinct to file a report.

The NYPD said they classified the incident as "aggravated harassment" and it is under investigation.

"Frankly, I wear it as a badge of honor," the senator said. "But at the same time, I'm concerned that this part of the new reality in our politics, that these kinds of hateful, outlandish messages would become part of our discourse."

Hoylman shared a photo of one of the mailers with DNAinfo New York.

It depicts images of a human figure on fire, with quotes attributed to "Lord" that read, "These people are so caught up in their pursuit for riches that they value money more than people" and "Just as they were once sophisticated, Satan raises them high on a pedestal and burns their whole body to flames where they will live in intense and extreme pain."

As DNAinfo New York previously reported, hate crimes have been on the rise in New York City this year, according to NYPD data.

There were 11 incidents in the week following the election, six of which involved swastikas, including at a women's dorm at the New School, and officials have attributed that spike to Trump's win.

READ MORE: Hate Crimes Jump 30 Percent in 2016, NYPD Stats Show

READ MORE: More Swastikas Scrawled in the City This Year, NYPD Says

READ MORE: New School Dorms Vandalized With Swastikas

"The president-elect and his campaign, I fear, has contributed to it," Hoylman said.

Hoylman lives with his partner and their young daughter, but said he isn't worried for his or his family's safety.

"I have concern for a lot of people who are in more vulnerable positions than I am, who are targets of right-wing extremists," he said. "The senior who gets punched in the face, the young trans woman who has a slur yelled at her, the kid who has to confront a swastika on the playground."

Swastikas were found scrawled on a Brooklyn playground this weekend alongside the words "Go Trump," as well as in a building in the heart of Williamsburg's predominantly Orthodox Jewish area.