A leading researcher has warned similar violent threats from the far right could become increasingly common in the new year.
Sina Brown-Davis said in three decades as an activist she had received threatening phone calls, texts and emails, but this was the first time those who threatened her had had the audacity to come to her door.
"We are watching you, Sina," a note written in indelible marker said.
"You wanna f... around destroying New Zealand, then you’re gonna find out the hard way not to f... with the people of this country."
Ms Brown-Davis was called a paedophile and "trash" in the first note; a second note called her a "fat black pig".
She said she was "shaken", but would not be intimidated.
She was having cameras installed at her home and she reported the notes to police yesterday.
Ms Brown-Davis said the work she was doing now was focused on Counterspin Media, an organisation of far right conspiracy theorists.
She had been visible at protests at the Christchurch District Court when Kelvyn Alp and Hannah Spierer, hosts at Counterspin Media, appeared on charges of distributing an objectionable publication, and she had also supported Christchurch’s Muslim community as the case progressed.
Ms Brown-Davis said she spoke to police and the Otago Daily Times yesterday because she wanted to show the people behind the letter she would not stop.
Further, she said she refused to allow violent threats to become part of normal political discourse.
University of Otago researcher and The Disinformation Project research lead Sanjana Hattotuwa said he was "very concerned" about the threats and the violent rhetoric that had ramped up over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Most recently, "and extremely disturbingly", there had been an uptick in violent language around the case of "Baby W", whose heart surgery was delayed because his parents demanded vaccine-free blood.
From November 28 to December 9 the violent rhetoric in New Zealand had been unprecedented, Dr Hattotuwa said.
Because of who she was and what she was doing, Ms Brown-Davis was "the canary in the coal mine of what all activists are going to have to face next year".
A police spokeswoman said if there was sufficient evidence, police would look to file charges.
