As Jewish New Year begins, Wisconsin synagogue defaced with swastikas

As Jewish New Year begins, Wisconsin synagogue defaced with swastikas

Pro-Trump graffiti also found just hours before the start of Rosh Hashanah

Madison Police are investigating the latest hate incident in the state, which comes hours before the celebration of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

A memorial near the Gates of Heaven synagogue in Madison’s James Madison Park was spray-painted with swastikas and a pro-President Donald Trump message in large red letters hours before Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. It is the latest in what a top Wisconsin Jewish leader says is an increase in anti-Semitic incidents over the past few years.

Madison Police said they are investigating the incident, which was reported early Wednesday morning by a passerby who noticed the memorial had been defaced with “TRUMP RULES,” “ANTIFA SUCKS” and Nazi symbols. Antifa refers to anti-fascist activists who have violently clashed with white supremacists and neo-Nazis in recent months, including at Charlottesville, Virginia. That march featured chants of “Jews will not replace us.”

Police spokesman Joel DeSpain said the incident had “the potential to be a hate crime.” To qualify, Wisconsin law requires that an individual intend to target a specific group.

More from this section

Two possible Republican congressional candidates say they won't run

3 DIE FROM MOSQUITO-BORNE ILLNESS EEE (930pET)

MO: MOTHER OF 6 HANDS OUT 100+ LUNCHES DAILY

“That kind of vandalism, the kind of bigotry that we’re experiencing is obviously something repugnant to 99 percent of the community. And I’m just hoping that people who know the culprits would step forward,” Madison Mayor Paul Soglin said.

Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel called the vandalism an “appalling attack” and urged people to contact Madison Area Crime Stoppers (608-266-6014) if they have any information. Schimel offered the state Department of Justice’s assistance in investigating the incident.

“The display of anti-Semitic graffiti being investigated today is outrageous,” Schimel said.

He added that “all graffiti is criminal, but not all graffiti invokes this type of emotion and I am outraged to see two examples of targeted vandalism in Madison within the last week.” Schimel was referring a message found spray-painted on the Wisconsin Law Enforcement Memorial at the state Capitol Saturday decrying the acquittal of a white ex-St. Louis police officer in the fatal shooting of a black man.

Madison Police Detective Tracie Jokala, who has investigated hate crimes in Wisconsin, said the Gates of Heaven incident is not surprising considering recent events in the country.

“We are in very complicated times right now,” Jokala said. “And in the last few decades, the internet has become a Petri dish in which those who have the same jaded ideas can find others who think the same way, and therefore be emboldened.”

There are no reliable data on the number or rate of hate crimes in the United States, according to the investigative news nonprofit ProPublica. The organization has collected several dozen reports of alleged incidents of hate and bias in Wisconsin since November when it began soliciting tips throughout the country as part of its Documenting Hate project. The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism is among more than 100 news outlets and other groups participating in the project.

The memorial alongside the Gates of Heaven synagogue that was defaced is dedicated to people who fought in the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s. Thesynagogue is one of the oldest surviving synagogue buildings in the nation.

Gates of Heaven is a popular attraction for celebrations and a place of worship during holidays. The Jewish community rents out the synagogue from the city of Madison, which owns the building. About 200 to 300 worshipers come to the synagogue for prayer services during the Jewish New Year, said Hannah Rosenthal, president the Milwaukee Jewish Federation who has been leading services at the Gates of Heaven for 34 years.

Jewish leaders in Wisconsin condemned the graffiti, which came hours before the community was set to begin celebrations for the High Holidays on Wednesday evening.

“There has been so much hate unleashed in the last few years,” said Rosenthal, who will lead the prayer services at the synagogue. “The danger of this incident in Madison is the people will think it’s normal. There has to be constant outrage when there’s expression of hate.”

Rosenthal, who served as the special envoy to monitor and combat anti-Semitism under the administration of President Barack Obama, said the Jewish community has seen an uptick in such incidents across the state in recent years.

In April 2016, vandals spray-painted swastikas and other anti-Semitic graffiti in several locations on and near the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, including the Jewish Experience of Madison and the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority. Three men were arrested. The purported ringleader, Timothy A. Arnold, then 21, was charged with a misdemeanor and sentenced to up to 18 months of probation.