Appeal dismissed in Squirrel Hill antisemitic flyer littering case

An Ohio man fined nearly $50,000 for throwing dozens of antisemitic flyers out of a moving car in Squirrel Hill failed to appear for his appeal hearing Wednesday.

Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Thomas E. Flaherty, therefore, dismissed the appeal, and the fine will stand.

However, Joshua Smith, an attorney for Jeremy Brokaw said Thursday that neither he nor his client received any notification that a hearing had been scheduled until late Wednesday.

Brokaw, 46, of Zanesville was convicted of 160 counts of littering on a roadway following the May 18 incident.

According to Pittsburgh police, Brokaw traveled to Squirrel Hill that day and threw more than 160 flyers from the window of a gold Dodge SUV.

The flyers, according to the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, came from the white supremacist group Goyim Defense League. The Anti-Defamation League has called the group a “small network of virulently antisemitic provocateurs.”

“Goyim” is a Yiddish and Hebrew slur for non-Jews.

The flyers, distributed in plastic bags, were weighed down with corn kernels. A residential video surveillance system captured Brokaw throwing the flyers that day, police said.

At a hearing before District Judge Craig Stephens in August, Brokaw was found guilty of 160 counts, each carrying a $300 fine.

Smith said at the time that they planned to appeal.

“This was, I think, at worst, a misguided attempt at political advocacy. I don’t think that’s something that should entail a punishment this severe — $50,000 in fines. It’s just too much. It’s very crushing,” Smith said then.

At the hearing, Assistant District Attorney Michael Siegert noted that the officers involved in the investigation were present. Since the defendant was not, Siegert said, the magistrate’s decision should stand and the appeal be dismissed.

He told the court that he contacted Smith’s office multiple times but never heard back.

“There is no Pennsylvania hate speech statute,” he said. “The defendant has been found guilty of littering. The fact it was such offensive speech is irrelevant.”