BY JEAN SPENCER
JeanSpencer @coloradoan.com

About 300 anti-immigration fliers were distributed by the nation's largest Neo-Nazi group last week in Old Town, sparking outrage by some Fort Collins residents and peace groups.

The fliers were created and circulated by the National Socialist Movement, or NSM, and included the depiction of a white baby lying in a white hand as well as a call to stop illegal immigration written in capital letters.

The flier said the mission to stop illegal immigration came from "the God who created our great race."

Paul Bame received a flier on his car parked on Walnut Street outside of the Armadillo restaurant. Bame said he didn't know what the flier was at first, but when he read it, it made him sick to his stomach.

"It makes me concerned about legal and illegal immigrants in our community," Bame said.

"To me it's disgusting," said Fort Collins' Carron Silva, whose neighbor showed her a flier.

"The image suggests an underlying message not just of immigration but keeping pure-whites pure.

"It was not a message of tolerance but of separation, and I found it appalling."

Peace groups such as the Center for Justice, Peace and Environment's Fuerza Latina and Not in Our Town Alliance, or NIOTA, are responding to the incident.

Fuerza Latina held a meeting Sunday to discuss reactions, and the peace groups are working together to create "action steps" in support of Hispanic populations and to prevent any further possible injustices, NIOTA's Cheryl Beckett said.

Beckett did not get a flier on her car.

The 8½-by-11 fliers were handed out just north of Old Town Square on Linden Street and the surrounding area, tucked under vehicles' windshield wipers.

A crew of five NSM members passed out the fliers, including NMS' Denver unit leader, Neal Land.

Land said the fliers were created to spread awareness about illegal immigration, to which the NSM organization stands overtly against.

"As a group, we are dead against it for the first word there: Illegal. Unlawful. Wrong," Land said.

Fort Collins police patrolman Marcus Hopkins said police had been notified, but no charges were filed.

"It's freedom of speech," he said.

Police were notified only to increase awareness about the activity in case more serious incidents occurred.

The Anti-Defamation League, which tracks hate groups, said the NSM has emerged as the nation's largest neo-Nazi group.

"The NSM promotes its virulently anti-Semitic and racist ideology at rallies throughout the country, particularly in the Midwest, and through the group's Website, Internet-based radio programs, white power music company and videogames," according to the ADL Web site.

A recent Homeland Security news release estimates just more than 4.3 million unauthorized illegal immigrants have entered the United States since January 2000 to work.

Critics say illegal immigrants are taking jobs away from Americans. "Immigration has always had pros and cons, and I can definitely see the threat to jobs," said Fort Collins' Crystal Benavidez. Still, Benavidez didn't agree with the fliers.

"But I think they went about this in the wrong way," she said.