California Police Say Hitler Graffiti Not A Hate Crime
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
(JTA) — Police have not classified graffiti referencing Adolf Hitler on a Northern California school as a hate crime.
The graffiti was discovered Saturday at the Edison Elementary School in Alameda, which has suffered several anti-Semitic incidents this term, the East Bay Times reported Wednesday. It was drawn in marker and quickly cleaned up, according to the report.
It was reminiscent of some dialogue from the popular sitcom “The Office.”
“It was a line said by the star of the series to one of his employees during season 6 episode 25,” Alameda Police Lt. Hoshmand Durani told the East Bay Times by via email. “It’s readily available on YouTube. Our case is closed and there’s no further police follow-up.”
The incident comes after racist phrases were spray-painted at five locations at the school in November.
In the same district, a Jewish student at Alameda High received a series of anti-Semitic text messages from a classmate. Meanwhile, recently at a nearby high school, students allegedly formed a swastika during a dance and offered a Nazi salute.
The Edison school hosted a meeting May 31 featuring Jacqueline Regev, an education director for the Anti-Defamation League, who talked about promoting tolerance.
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