Man accused of circulating antisemitic flyers faces criminal charge

A man accused of tossing antisemitic flyers onto people’s yards in Palm Beach County has been charged with resisting an officer without violence when he refused to show his identification.

Nicholas Alan Bysheim, 33, of Lusby, Md., could receive up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine if found guilty.

The incident happened Jan. 21 when police dispatch sent a sergeant to the 300 block of South Country Club Drive in the city of Atlantis, which is near Lake Worth.

Two people were tossing plastic baggies into people’s yards from a U-Haul pickup truck, according to the arrest report filed in Palm Beach Circuit Court. The two told the officer they were distributing First Amendment-protected information and they were allowed to do so, according to the report. When Bysheim tossed another baggie in front of the sergeant, the sergeant asked for his identification.

“He refused to provide me his identification multiple times while saying obscenities at me,” the officer wrote in his report, adding that Bysheim was warned he would be arrested if he didn’t comply.

According to court records, Bysheim is representing himself. He entered a plea of not guilty on Feb. 22, as well as a motion to dismiss.

The specific contents of what was written on the flyers was not revealed, but described as hate material by prosecutors.

Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg announced the filing Wednesday. The prosecutors’ office said the man was “observed spreading messages of hate in our community, part of a disturbing recent wave of antisemitic incidents.”

Florida law allows police to detain individuals for the purpose of obtaining IDs to write citations. “This individual came into our community to cause harm and now is being held accountable,” Aronberg said in a prepared statement. “Although distributing messages of hate is not illegal, it is a crime to refuse to provide identification to a law enforcement officer investigating a littering violation. We will continue to hold individuals accountable who violate our laws.”

According to court records, Bysheim wrote in a document that he was “exercising my First Amendment rights via an educational outreach flyer distribution campaign.”

He wrote that the sergeant told him and his associate: “O.K. listen, I’m not here to play games with you guys, you need to stop throwing things into people’s yards and that’s it.”

He said he told the officer he could throw things in their yards, and then dropped another flyer that was sealed in a zip-close bag.

After the sergeant asked for his ID, Bysheim then threatened to sue, Bysheim wrote in court-submitted documents. He was then arrested.

A case disposition hearing is scheduled for Friday in county court. Bysheim could not be reached for comment.