Response to “Operation Epstein Fury” (April 17, 2026)

By Terry Scott, Benicia Resident, April 19, 2026

The letter published in last Friday’s Benicia Herald under the title “Operation Epstein Fury” must not pass without a direct response from this community and the Benicia Herald Editor or Publisher.

Did you read the letter before publishing it?

The letter is antisemitic. It’s not edgy. It’s not provocative.

It’s the same old antisemitic crap I’ve put up with all my life.

I usually just shrug this antisemitism off. But this writer had gone too far. I simply can’t take the blatant in your face antisemitic commentary published in a newspaper in my little city.

This virulent LTTE deploys centuries-old tropes: Jewish people as shysters, blackmailers, and puppet masters manipulating governments. It uses a Bible verse from Revelation that has been weaponized against Jewish people throughout history to brand us as agents of Satan.

This is not political commentary. It is hate speech.

Benicia is a community that prides itself on civility, inclusion, and honest debate.

We can and should discuss vigorously U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Those are legitimate conversations. But wrapping policy disagreement in ethnic hatred is not debate — it is plain old bigotry, and it will poison public discourse.

The Benicia Herald has every right to publish letters reflecting a wide range of views.

But publication implies a minimal editorial standard. This letter fell way beneath it.

I would ask the editors to reflect on that, and I would ask our community not to let it stand unanswered.

Hatred thrives in silence.

Use your voice and join me in calling out antisemitism and all forms of hatred when you see it.

Terry Scott
Benicia Resident