Racist 'Pokémon' Posters Spotted in Sydney; 'Gotta Catch and Deport Em All' Flyers Shock Petersham Residents
Posters promoting hatred and violence towards racial groups, media personalities and other targets have been spotted in Sydney's inner west area. Law enforcement is investigating where these "Pokémon" card game-styled flyers have originated.
These posters have since been taken down, but not before alarming residents in Sydney's Petersham suburbs. They were designed to resemble cards from the "Pokémon" collectible card game, and show photos of Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, ABC network's Yassmin Abdel-Magied and Waleed Aly, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Several posters also depict denigrating caricatures of racial stereotypes, along with phrases "gotta catch and hang em all" and "gotta catch and deport em all," as parodies of the "Pokémon" series catchphrase.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
A 25-year old Petersham resident described her experience seeing the posters near her home. "I was just walking down to the 7-Eleven when I saw them, and I thought they were appalling," she said.
"I was just trying to calm down after seeing them because they made me pretty outraged. I had a few things to do and a couple of hours later, I walked past again and someone had scratched them off so I guess the neighbourhood took care of it," the resident explained, adding that she was shocked to see this kind of propaganda material in their suburb.
The Marrickville Local Area Command was already aware of the incident and are looking for the perpetrators, according to one of their duty officers.
A group calling themselves the Aussie Nationalists took the credit for the controversial posters, according to Yahoo 7 News Australia. They encourage others to "spread the love in your area," referring to the racist posters.
Online reaction to the posters has been a mix of outrage and alarm. "What is wrong with the world, seriously. I am disgusted that my daughter is growing up in a world filled with so much hatred," one reader commented.
