Berkeley police arrest suspect in series of antisemitic hate crimes

Police in Berkeley, Calif., announced that they have arrested a suspect accused of committing a series of hate crimes, including vandalizing a Jewish synagogue with antisemitic writing and a reverse swastika.

The string of incidents began during the early morning hours on April 29 when a suspect vandalized a private residence with graffiti referencing those of Jewish faith and destroyed a Jewish religious artifact, according to a police statement on Tuesday. 

Later that evening, the same suspect was seen vandalizing a house of worship with antisemitic writing, destroying religious artifacts and leaving behind a handmade reverse swastika.

Police said the same suspect was also caught burglarizing a Jewish community center the next morning.

Law enforcement described the series of “bizarre messages” that the suspect allegedly left behind in English and Hebrew that referenced Judaism.

The alleged vandal was identified as a 39-year-old man with no fixed address. He was arrested last week on suspicion of burglary, vandalism, and a charge classified as a hate crime.

The suspect was not identified in the police report. 

“The Berkeley Police Department recognizes and places a high priority on the rights of all individuals guaranteed under state and federal law,” police said in a statement. “The commission of a hate crime is a serious offense, which will not be tolerated in the City of Berkeley.”

There has been a reported rise in hate incidents across the nation.

The Anti-Defamation League reported in April that 2020 was the third-worst year for antisemitic incidents since it first began tracking such data in 1979. According to the organization, 2,024 incidents of antisemitic assault, harassment and vandalism were reported last year.

Swastikas and the antisemitic messages were discovered on The Oregon Holocaust Memorial in Portland earlier this month.

This February, a set of Holocaust memorial statues were destroyed at a Tulsa, Okla., Jewish art museum and swastikas were spray painted on a synagogue in Spokane, Wash.