Four public schools in Montgomery County, Md., were vandalized with antisemitic graffiti on Aug. 19, WJLA-TV reported.
Marc Yamada, chief of the Montgomery County Police Department, stated on Wednesday that “the recent acts of antisemitic and anti-Israel vandalism at our schools and places of worship are unacceptable” and that the department “is taking every investigative step possible to close these cases by arrest.”
“These incidents are not only crimes. They are hateful actions that seek to divide our community and instill fear in our residents,” Yamada stated. “Let me be clear: every person, faith, culture and religion has the right to feel safe and respected in Montgomery County. These acts of bias and hate will not be tolerated.”
The department “is taking these incidents seriously” and is “committed to conducting thorough investigations to identify and arrest those responsible,” it said.
Guila Franklin Siegel, chief operating officer of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, said on Monday that county school buildings had been vandalized for the second consecutive week “by individuals with vitriolic, ill-informed comments directed towards the state of Israel, as well as other antisemitic images.” (Antisemitic graffiti was discovered the prior week at a school in Bethesda.)
“It is no accident that the perpetrators of these incidents have defaced schools that are located in neighborhoods with high concentrations of Jewish residents and have significant numbers of Jewish students and faculty members,” Siegel said. “These schools are also blocks away from multiple synagogues.”
“This pattern of behavior—in impact and almost certainly in design—targets Montgomery County’s Jews,” she added. “In doing so, it causes tremendous harm not only to Israelis and Jews but to our entire shared community.”