California woman seen leaving racist letters at five homes telling 'foreigners' to go back immediately
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA: A 52-year-old woman from San Leandro was arrested on Saturday, May 23, for allegedly writing a racist letter to the residents of a San Francisco Bay Area town. Nancy Arechiga, in the letter, asked the foreign residents to vacate their homes so that "a white person can move in," according to reports.
Arechiga left the letter at five homes in the Heron Bay section of the Oakland suburb on the evening of May 22, Friday. Shortly after, one of the residents who received it, Trinny Wynn, posted the controversial note on social media, which garnered a lot of attention and criticism. San Leandro is a diverse suburb, which has large cluster of Latino, Asian, and African-American communities.
The letter read: "We the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, inspire domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. If you are a woman or man and was born in other country, return, go back, to your land immediately, fast, with urgency."
"If you are a woman was born in other Country takes [sic] your children with you, under 21 years old. Consider a Bless of God," the letter added. The document also had a concluding note, stating that the residents should move out so that a white person could move in their stead.
"Do ordain to you to leave this house," the letter read. "One American, white, brace, that serves the Nation of USA is going to live here." Door-cam images from the houses showed that a white woman, in her 50s, wearing sunglasses and a white beanie, had left the note in one of the homes.
You can see the pictures by clicking here.
Shortly after the Facebook post received attention, the San Leandro Police Department released a statement, saying they had arrested Arechiga while she was carrying a backpack containing copies of the same note, according to the Daily Mail. Detectives also said they found a similar note attached to a local information board on May 21, Thursday. The note read: "No Asians allowed, leave immediately."
San Leandro Police Department Isaac Benabou said: "San Leandro is a community of beautifully diverse people, who share a common desire to live in harmony, and free from intimidation. We welcome people's rights to express themselves, but not in a manner that infringes upon a community's sense of security and wellbeing."
The 52-year-old was reportedly booked into Alameda County's Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, however, considering the current state bail schedule, she has been cited and released from custody. Her bail was reportedly set at $0 for low-level crimes and a misdemeanor in an attempt to keep the prisons relatively empty amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Wynn, on her Facebook post, wrote: "This happened today, a white woman wearing a USA beanie targeted People of color homes with this letter at their front doors. This occurred in a quiet and well diverse middle-class community in San Leandro. My family's house was also targeted... We were able to capture all this on camera. There is no room for this hateful and despicable behavior in this society. If you recognize this woman, please report it to the police."
The city mayor, Pauline Cutter, also responded to the incident, stating that San Leandro had no place for hate in its community, and lauded prompt efforts of the local police department.