A locker belonging to a Jewish student in California was defaced with swastikas and other racist graffiti, and police are now investigating the incident as a hate crime, according to an anti-hate organization.
StopAntisemitism announced on social media Sunday that a student’s football locker at Corona Del Mar High School in Newport Beach was defaced with poorly-drawn attempts at the Nazi symbol as well as instances of the letters “KKK,” referring to the American white supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan.
Newport Beach - a Jewish student at Corona Del Mar High School had his football locker defaced with “swastikas” and “KKK”.
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) October 16, 2023
No police report was filed.
This is a blatant hate crime & those responsible must be punished to the fullest extent of the law @NewportBeachPD
Jewish… pic.twitter.com/QDMsmOjdJe
“This is a blatant hate crime & those responsible must be punished to the fullest extent of the law,” StopAntisemitism said in its post while tagging the Newport Beach Police Department.
“Jewish students deserve to feel safe - email Superintendent Wesley Smith… and demand a criminal investigation take place,” the anti-hate group added, providing the superintendent’s email.
In a follow-up post shared a day later, StopAntisemitism claimed that the incident had “been reported to the police” and that it was “being investigated as a hate crime.”
The appearance of the antisemitic graffiti comes just a week after Israel was the target of a devastating surprise attack by the Hamas terrorist group. An estimated 1,400 Israelis have been killed since that attack was launched.
Newport Beach Police had already shared a statement on Friday, hoping to “assure” citizens that the department places its community’s “safety and security” as a “top priority” as the war between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas raged on “halfway around the globe.”
Corona Del Mar High School has yet to release any statements in regard to the graffiti.