October 27th marked a year since the shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, which was the deadliest antisemitic act committed in U.S. history. We have insight into the shooter’s ideological worldview because he frequently posted on white supremacist social media sites. He asserted that George Soros, a Jewish billionaire, is behind a conspiracy to control international politics and the global economy. For Jews and those sensitive to the history of antisemitism, this imagery evokes a frightening repetition of antisemitic accusations going back to The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

We are alarmed and outraged that such language has entered Monroe County politics in the form of a fundraising letter sent out by District Attorney candidate, Sandra Doorley. The letter read, in part, “George Soros is trying to buy this election because he wants to install a far-left puppet.” This language mirrors the exact rhetoric and imagery that inspired the Tree of Life shooter. It is clearly antisemitic. This is not just our opinion, it is a fact supported by research from the Anti-Defamation League and many other apolitical organizations. But Doorley doubles down on the racist tropes she invokes, saying that Candidate Mitchell, “won’t prosecute dangerous criminals who put you and your family in harm’s way.” The idea that Jews are out to damage our community by foisting undesirable people upon “you and your family” is white supremacy 101. If you don’t believe us, a trip down the dark rabbit hole of Google search will tell you more than you ever wanted to know. White supremacist and neo nazi websites recite ad nauseam the rhetoric that wealthy Jews are out to harm “you and your family” by engineering an invasion of criminals, immigrants, and people of color. Trafficking in these dog whistles is offensive and hurtful to a community that trusts its elected officials to treat each of us with dignity regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity.

Of course, Ms. Doorley and the local Republican party may argue that Mr. Soros really did donate money to the local democratic candidate for District Attorney via a PAC. If they wanted to complain about “outside” money, we would not be writing this essay. She chose to focus on Soros, who has been personally used as the embodiment of the archetypal Jewish global conspirator by white supremacists around the country and the world. Repeatedly. Invoking his name as the puppetmaster putting “you and your family in harm’s way” could be a verbatim quote from a white supremacist website, and is a wink to anti-Semites about whose team she is on – whether or not she intended it as such. Elected officials are deliberate about their words when they write fundraising appeals. We are asking DA Doorley to be deliberate in apologizing.

We must not allow these dog whistles into our local politics. They are becoming far too frequent in our national discourse, and have led directly to violence against Jews, people of color, Muslims, the LGBT+ community, immigrants and other vulnerable groups. DA Doorley has promised to protect our community from violence – not expose us to it. We hope she will live up to her promise.