Richmond residents alarmed at racist flyers

Richmond RCMP say they are investigating racist flyers distributed to some home mailboxes in Steveston Thursday.

The flyer shows a caricature drawing of a man laughing and an image of a Chinese flag with the words, "The Chinese are taking over,"in bold letters.

At the bottom it reads, "Let's save Richmond."

Some Richmond residents say they are deeply concerned about the racially charged flyers.

Neighbours took to Twitter and Facebook to express their alarm.

Kelly Greene first heard of the flyers from a friend's Facebook post.

She called it "poison" and "unacceptable."

"There's been an immediate and strong response against this kind of messaging. People in this neighbourhood are beyond dismayed. We are angry," Greene said.

"I think right now there's a lot of disbelief that this kind of messaging can be found in Canada. We are thought of as a beaconthroughoutthe world of inclusion and tolerance," Greene said from her Richmond home.

Posters that have not been handled

Cpl. Dennis Hwang said the RCMPtake all matters that may be motivated by hate or biasvery seriously.

"Weare currently investigating this incident. We realize that incidents like this have a direct impact on citizens and our community," he said in a statement.

Hwang said police are lookingfor posters that have not been handled,for clues as to who distributedthem.

With files from Angela Sterritt