Racist flier about candidates turns up in mailboxes

NEW JERSEY (FOX5NY) - A flier mailed to residents in Edison Township, New Jersey, is stirring up controversy and concern.

It reads "Make Edison Great Again." Below that are pictures of deportation stamps over the faces of two school board candidates, Jerry Shi and Falguni Patel. Another line reads "The Chinese and Indians are taking over our town" and also "Enough is enough." The back has a picture of a stop sign and the words "Stop the outsiders!"

Sam Khan is a community activist in Edison Township and founder of South Asian Community Outreach. He said that school board candidates Shi and Patel are not intimidated.

How people got these fliers or who sent them is not clear. But a number of elected officials from both parties are publicly condemning the mailer.

In a statement, Edison Township Mayor Thomas Lankey called the flier "vile and racist" and said, "...we will do everything possible to expose the shameful people behind this..." The mayor referred all documents to the police chief and the Middlesex County prosecutor.

Sen. Bob Menendez tweeted "Diversity is exactly what makes Edison, NJ great."

In the past two decades, the suburban community has seen a demographic shift from predominately white to nearly an Asian majority population.

While the flier may be offensive, many residents said most embrace diversity and they hope the sentiments expressed on the flier are the exception.