By Brianne Pfannenstiel and Stephen Gruber-Miller, Des Moines Register
The Hampton Police Department has arrested a 38-year-old man who they believe produced racist signs and attached them to local Hispanic-owned businesses.
Daniel Embree, of Hampton, is charged with eight counts of second-degree harassment for allegedly placing paper printouts on several business doors. The signs said “Illegal immigrant hunting permit. No bag limit. Tagging not required. Trump 2024.”
Police say surveillance footage from nearby businesses connected Embree to the flyers, according to court documents. Authorities also found “documentation showing he was producing the fliers he put on the businesses” at his place of residence.
Authorities determined that Embree allegedly placed the fliers on “pre-targeted” Hispanic-owned businesses, according to the criminal complaint.
Embree’s preliminary hearing is set for Thursday, Aug. 22. He is being held on $5,000 bond.
Flyers attached to business doors
Hampton police began investigating after racist signs were taped to multiple Hispanic-owned businesses in the north-central Iowa town this week.
The incident was first reported by the Hampton Chronicle.
“It was reported to the Hampton Police Department that in the early morning hours of Tuesday, August 13, 2024, multiple fliers were placed on the doors of several Hispanic businesses in Hampton,” Hampton Police Chief Mark Morrison said in a statement. “We are taking this matter very seriously and are working diligently to identify the individual or individuals responsible.”
He said after the investigation is completed, the case will be forwarded to the Franklin County Attorney.
The county attorney’s office declined to comment while the case is under investigation.
Hampton, the Franklin County seat, is about 95 miles north of Des Moines and has a population of 4,300 residents.
Local officials condemn ‘hate crime’
Larry Sailer, chair of the Franklin County Republican Party, said he considers the act to be a hate crime. He said he condemns the sentiment on the posters and doesn’t believe they reflect the views of Republicans or Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
“It’s certainly nothing to promote Trump or the Republican Party. It does just the opposite,” he said. “I just wanted to make sure everybody knows that that is not how we think as far as the Republican Party in Franklin County.”
He said he went to Mi Tierra, one of the affected businesses, for lunch Wednesday to show his support to the owners and was pleased to see a packed dining room.
“I do know the city police here are doing everything they can to find this person,” he said. “Hopefully they do bring them to justice. It’s just totally uncalled for. We don’t need division. We need to work together. And the people here that have businesses that are Mexican restaurants, are hardworking people. They’ve got their hearts in the right place. They’re family people. It was just totally uncalled for. It’s just not right.”
Staff at Mi Tierra said that the restaurant’s owners saw the sign on their building Tuesday evening and that local police came by the restaurant Wednesday to speak with them about it. Business on Wednesday was good, they said.
Sailer said he does not blame Trump or his rhetoric for what was posted in Hampton.
“I’ve never understood this to be part of what he’s talking about,” Sailer said. “Of course, as Republicans, you know, we’re totally for legal immigration. I mean, that’s what built this country. We’re totally for that.”
Rita Hart, chair of the Iowa Democratic Party, denounced the signs, saying it’s shocking and disappointing to see “that type of hateful talk.”
“It’s shocking to see that somebody feels comfortable putting up a flyer that talks about hunting people, that reduces human beings to the same level as animals,” she said.
“I hope that people rally around the notion that enough is enough, that we’re not happy about this kind of hateful rhetoric and that people need to stand up and say, ‘No, we’re not going to accept this,'” she added. “Especially because it does make people feel unsafe.”
Brianne Pfannenstiel is the chief politics reporter for the Des Moines Register. She is also covering the 2024 presidential race for USA TODAY as a senior national campaign correspondent. Reach her at [email protected] or 515-284-8244. Follow her on Twitter at @brianneDMR.
Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.
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