Hampton Man Charged for Anti-Immigrant Flyers Bonded Out Ahead of Hearing

Daniel Embree had an initial court appearance in Hampton on Friday at 8:45 a.m., with a preliminary hearing set for 3 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 22 in the Franklin County Courthouse on the charges. Bond was set at $5,000.

Hampton Police announced Friday that Daniel Alan Embree had been arrested and charged with nine offenses after he was identified as a person of interest in the investigation of the flyers posted on businesses in downtown Hampton Aug. 13. The flyers which read in part “USA Illegal Hunting Permit,” “No bag limits, tagging not required,” and “Trump 2024” were taped on at least seven locations.

The images and messages in the flyers have appeared before, as far back as 2011, not as flyers posted on businesses, but as decals sold as novelties in gas stations in Colorado, Illinois and Wisconsin. The “permit” is also available for purchase online and can be modified with different motifs such as “terrorist hunting permit,” which can be customized for each state.

Embree is charged with eight counts of harassment in the second degree for the postings, and one count of trespassing with the intent to commit a hate crime. As of the morning of August 17, Embree was behind bars in the Hardin County Jail.

Embree was apprehended by the Hampton Police Department after they and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at 320 N. Federal St. in Hampton on Thursday, Aug. 15. At least two sheriff units and three Hampton PD units were dispatched to the home to serve the warrant at around 3:30 p.m. on Thursday. Sheriff’s cruisers could be seen in the 300 North block of Federal Street, with the Hampton PD parked in an alley behind the home. Foliage growing over the front door of the home does not allow it to be entered from N Federal St, and the primary entrance is a door that opens to a back porch of the home and the alley.

According to police reports, surveillance footage was retrieved from several businesses that received the flyers. Embree was identified as a suspect based on information gathered from the footage. A civilian source involved reported that it was a distinctive shirt that Embree was alleged to be wearing that allowed him to be identified. During the search of Embree’s home, officers reported they found clothing consistent with clothing seen in the surveillance footage, and also materials used to produce the flyers.

Who is Daniel Embree?

Real estate records show he purchased the 2-bed, 2-bath 1,616 sq ft home at 320 N. Federal St. in Hampton in July of 2018. Past address records indicate that he had lived in two locations in the Cedar Falls area from 2016, and several locations in Longmont, Colorado, near Boulder, where he appears to be from and have family, from 2004 to 2015.

Embree, 38, does not seem to be well-known in the community. As soon as the news broke of his alleged involvement in the posting of the flyers Aug 13, in online comments on Facebook news posts of his arrest locals seemed to not have much, if any, knowledge of him.

A LinkedIn page shows him as being employed as a warehouse worker at Target in Cedar Falls since 2020, and as a Manager at Walmart for the 5 years prior. The LinkedIn profile with his name and photo show that he also attended Front Range Community College in Colorado where he received an Associate of Science degree, and the University of Northern Iowa, with no degree listed. Front Range College has three campuses, one each in Westminster, Fort Collins, and Longmont, so it’s likely he attended the Longmont campus.

Longmont, a city just north of Boulder, is only about 40 miles from Eaton, Colorado, where the decals caused uproar when they were found to be available for sale at Cenex convenience store there in February of 2013. Cenex's parent company, Agfinity Inc., reportedly received a large number of complaints at the time. Agfinity quickly issued a statement on their Facebook page at the time regarding the “permit” stating,

"We at Agfinity deeply regret the concern this issue related to bumper stickers that had been for sale in our store has raised in our community. We have removed the bumper sticker display from our stores. As an organization, we do not condone offensive messages of this nature.”

As of the 2020 Census, the most recent year available, the Hispanic/Latino population of Hampton was reported to be 24.1%. However, data released by the Iowa Department of Education for 2023 shows that Hispanic/Latinos make up 39.1% of the student body of the Hampton-Dumont School District. In comparison, 12.6% is the average percentage of the student body that is Hispanic/Latino of all school districts in the state.

There are reports that Embree has had racially charged exchanges with his neighbors in Hampton, and postings on a Facebook account that appear to be his do delve into politics, with at least one directly involving immigration. A review of hundreds of Facebook posts on the account finds the following themes prevalent: science, astrology, nature, history, biology, zoology, humor, and Europe, with a strong focus on cats and cat memes. He appears to exclusively post memes, without any original content or references to Hampton.

Six days before the flyer incident, however, Embree posted a meme that read “Why do I need a $200 passport to leave the country but I don’t need one to get in?” And on July 14, Embree commented “English is better” on a Chronicle Facebook post about local Hispanic children listening to books in English and Spanish at the Franklin County Fair.

Public records show Embree registered to vote July 2, 2004 using a Longmont, Colorado address. His party affiliation at that time is unknown.

A woman who answered the door at the Embree residence Friday declined to speak with reporters about the flyers, saying “Daniel will be the best one to talk to about that. You can call him, but the police took his phone, so he probably can’t answer.” The woman declined to answer further, but did provide Embree’s phone number.

Senator Dennis Guth (R-Klemme) who represents Hampton in the Iowa Senate said he heard about the flyers on Thursday, and came to Hampton to go door to door speaking with constituents about the postings. He and Franklin County Republican Party Chairman Larry Sailer also had lunch at Mi Tierra, where Guth spoke to employees about the incident. He reported that they seemed “concerned.” After lunching at Mi Tierra, Guth went to La Frontera, where he spoke with employees and owner Pati Castellanos.

Guth, whose wife is Mexican-American, said that despite his views on securing the border, he doesn’t want anyone in the community to feel targeted or fearful.

“We need to treat all people with respect, whether they are legal or illegal,” he said. “But I don’t think that we need to turn our heads and just look away if people are here illegally. That’s still illegal.”

Franklin County Democratic Chair Catherine Crooks said she was pleased to learn about the arrest.

“Thank you to our local law enforcement teams for your quick action to find out who was responsible, and hold them accountable,” Crooks said. “No person in our community should be made to feel unsafe for any reason. I hope this arrest sends a clear message that this type of behavior will not be tolerated.”

Franklin County Republican Chairman Larry Sailer commended local law enforcement on the arrest, adding that he’s never seen or heard of Embree before, and that neither he nor anyone he knew had recollection of him attending events organized by the county’s Republican party.

Neighbors in the area said that they either did not know Embree, or had had run-ins with him that were unusual. A neighbor on the next block who is connected to one of the businesses impacted said she didn’t know Embree personally, but that she would see him riding around the area on a moped and dressed in a shirt she believes might have been the one that was identifiable in the surveillance footage, which she was familiar with.

It was reported that there was a close neighbor of Embree’s of Hispanic heritage that’d historically had a contentious relationship with him which involved nationality. That neighbor reportedly wanted to talk with Chronicle reporters regarding Embree’s arrest, but that neighbor has not been able to be reached for a statement or substantiation.

One of Embree’s Mexican-American neighbors, Valerie Zavala, who has been living a stone’s throw from Embree for almost five years, was available for comment and agreed to be quoted for this story.

Zavala was not surprised by the arrest and related that she’d had “four to five” contentious exchanges with Embree going back years in the past, with the most recent direct contact being in the last month.

Zavala, who is an American citizen by birth, said that several of the exchanges involved bigoted and prejudicial speech yelled at neighbors by Embree. Of the arrest she felt probably not much would happen to him, remarking, “It is what it is. I don’t wish bad on anyone either way but, you gotta pay the consequences. You gotta pay for your actions. Can’t say I’m happy for it, and I can’t say I’m not happy, so it’s, either, or.”

Zavala, when asked how she felt about the flyers allegedly posted by Embree said, “It upset me,” and that she felt it was “very immature,” and hit especially close to home since she has family and many close connections who are undocumented. “We all have a right to be here,” Zavala said, “and we all have a right to at least, you know, be proud of our culture too.” She thought that she remembered that she had seen him put a Trump sign in his yard at one time, but wasn’t quite sure, just that he had put out a sign.

She said nothing had ever been posted on her door, but that Embree, “had sent the cops over a couple times,” for things such as playing music too loudly. Zavala said she had just pretty much stopped playing the music. Zavala characterized Embree as anti-social.

In the most recent incident, Zavala and her mother were having what she said was an admittedly heated exchange in the evening. During the exchange Embree is alleged to have yelled out, “f***ing Mexicans” and “I’m calling immigration.” Zavala, who said she has heard these kinds of things before in her life, and has been desensitized, responded in English that she was a citizen.

Zavala said that she didn’t see Embree much, but that she’d seen him from time to time late at night walking his cat on a leash, on his deck, and looking out of the windows of his house. She said that the last time she had seen him was just a week prior when she was getting some things out of her vehicle. She said that he was standing on his property, giving her what she felt were “nasty stares. “ Zavala said she, as a Mexican-American, felt she didn’t “deserve those nasty looks,” or “any of those comments either, just because of my cultural background.”

When asked how she felt about living in Hampton, Zavala replied, “I've lived here my whole life. I think we really have a pretty big Hispanic community compared to other places, you go to Iowa Falls, you really don’t see much, Mason City, you don’t see much.” “Here, I like it, it’s just sometimes you get those weird stares...just because I speak Spanish, or sometimes I wear a Mexico shirt or whatever, you get stared at. At school here you hear, you know, the kids bully you because you speak Spanish or another language, but you learn to grow a little bit of a harder shell.” She added, “I like it here. It’s peaceful most of the time, unless you have neighbors like that. Other than that, I think it’s still a peaceful place.”

In regard to her speaking with the newspaper and going on the record, Zavala said, “I feel I have to put my voice out there for the others that can’t, or don't want to, or are afraid to. You just gotta speak up sometimes.”

All suspects are presumed to be innocent until convicted in a court of law.