3 Arrested for Anti-Semitic Vandalism at Jewish Summer Camp

Three men were arrested and charged with vandalizing a Jewish summer camp in Michigan with painted swastikas.
The men, Dakota Burnett, 20, Xavier Mulac, 18, and Cody Emelander, 18, all of South Haven, Michigan, where the camp is located, were arraigned on Friday in Van Buren County District Court. They are charged with malicious destruction of property, Mlive.com reported.
They face up to a year in jail and more than $2,000 in fines if convicted.
In the July 26 incident, a swastika was spray-painted on a sign outside Camp Agudah Midwest, an Orthodox overnight camp. The vandalism coincided with the fast day of Tisha b’Av, when Jews mourn the destruction of the ancient Temples in Jerusalem.
The vandals also damaged a building at the camp and spray-painted swastikas on a nearby picnic table and car.
In the aftermath of the incident, the camp said it hired a night security guard and stepped up security.
According to its Facebook page, the camp is affiliated with the Haredi Orthodox Agudath Israel of America and runs separate four-week sessions for girls completing grades 4-10 and boys completing grades 4-12.
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism so that we can be prepared for whatever news 2025 brings.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO