The Boston University Police Department and the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office are investigating a possible hate crime on Boston University’s campus, after someone wrote “Free Palestine” on the window of BU Hillel Tuesday evening.
Because the Florence & Chafetz Hillel House at Boston University is a house of worship that holds regular religious services, as well as a community center and a building associated with an educational facility, the vandalism may rise to the level of a hate crime, a DA spokesperson said. It’s the location of the graffiti, not necessarily the language used, that would qualify it under the law, the spokesperson said.
“This defacement was a targeted act and we will work closely with BU police to identify, arrest, and prosecute the person responsible,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “Our message is clear: hate crimes in any form are intolerable and anyone charged with committing them will pay the consequences.”
Robert Lowe, chief of the BU Police Department, says that police officers received a call just before 5 pm Tuesday evening from staff members at Hillel House on Bay State Road, who told them that “an unknown person had tagged an exterior window of the building.”
Police arrived to find the words “Free Palestine” written on the window with what appeared to be a permanent marker, Lowe says. The graffiti overlaid a blue and white sign that was posted inside the window, designed to replicate the Israeli flag, that reads, “We Stand with Israel.” The writing was removed by employees from BU’s Facilities Management & Operations Wednesday morning.
It’s unknown if the graffiti was committed by a person with any affiliation to BU. “Separately from any action taken by local authorities,” Jason Campbell-Foster, BU dean of students, says, “if a student is determined to be responsible for this act, they will be held accountable under University procedures.”
Kenneth Freeman, BU president ad interim, credits the BUPD and the Suffolk County DA’s Office for their prompt action and the seriousness with which they took the incident. “We will not tolerate violence, threats directed at individuals, or acts that constitute hate crimes,” Freeman says. “And we will take all possible measures to keep our campus safe. Our public safety team is working with the Suffolk County District Attorney on the investigation; we are grateful for the timely response.”