Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Swastika Drawn In Department Of Homeland Security Headquarters

(JTA) — A hand-drawn swastika was found inside the Washington D.C. headquarters of the Department of Homeland Security.

The Nazi symbol was discovered on the building’s third floor on Friday. CNN first reported the incident.

Staff members were informed of the incident in an email from Brian Murphy, principal deputy undersecretary for the Office of Intelligence and Analysis, that was sent just after 5 p.m., according to CNN.

“(T)here is no room in the workplace for such symbols of hate. And there is no room in the workplace for those who ascribe to such a thing,” Murphy wrote in part.

“This display of hate and cowardice does not represent the dedicated hardworking men and women of the Department of Homeland Security,” Andrew Meehan, acting assistant secretary for Public Affairs for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in a statement to CNN. “It has no place in an organization that works tirelessly to protect the American people and combat hate in all its forms.”

Meehan also said that the situation was “immediately referred” to the Office of the Inspector General and “is currently being investigating to ensure that swift and corrective action is taken.”

A message from our CEO & publisher 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 during this critical time.

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

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.