The fence outside the Michigan vacation home of former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the U.S. ambassador to Japan and one of the nation’s most prominent Jewish political figures, was spray-painted with the word “Nazis.”
Emanuel was not at the cottage at the time.
“Our family is very proud of how our friends, neighbors and the community have rallied to our support and in a singular voice in condemning hatred and bigotry,” Emanuel told the Sun-Times in a text message.
Emanuel, who was in Chicago on Sunday, said he also wanted “to thank the local law enforcement for their diligence, swiftness and seriousness in which they have addressed this crime.”
The incident comes amid rising antisemitism and Islamophobia, spiking in the U.S. as the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza enters its second month. The war was triggered by the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas fighters who are based in and have controlled Gaza.
The New York Times, citing the Gaza health ministry, reported Sunday that 12,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, with the Israeli military operation ongoing. The Hamas-controlled ministry does not separate the deaths of civilians and combatants. The Israeli Defense Forces said 1,300 were killed in Israel in the Oct. 7 attack, with about 240 hostages taken to Gaza, where they remain in captivity.
The defacement at the Emanuel property came to light when the head of a homeowners organization in Gordon Beach, a small lakefront community in southwest Michigan, sent a message to residents Friday informing them “of an upsetting incident.”
“A hate crime occurred against one of our neighbors, where an anti-Semitic word was spray painted on a property,” board president Tom McNulty told the Gordon Beach Homeowners Association, representing a community in Union Pier, Michigan, about 70 miles from Chicago.
The letter noted local police “came out and confirmed there was no other damage to the property and no sign of breaking or entering. The homeowner arranged to have the offensive language removed.”
It continued: “We in Gordon Beach condemn this hate crime, as well as the national increase in intolerance, bigotry and criminal activity based on hate. Gordon Beach does not tolerate prejudice, bigotry, racism, hatred or violence, and we encourage anyone who has experienced an act of hate to report it to the Berrien County Police.”