Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Teens Arrested in Mercer Island Anti-Semitism Graffiti Spree

There’s a long list of things that Jewish teenagers have to worry about in high school: zits, gym class, overbearing mothers, but now, students at Northwest Yeshiva High School on Mercer Island can add anti-Semitism to the list. On the eve of Yom Kippur, security cameras caught three teenage boys defacing the school building with swastikas and making “references to gas chambers,” according to SeattlePI.com. The Mercer Island community pitched in to make sure the building was clean of graffiti before Yom Kippur services began in the school’s sanctuary.

The Mercer Island Police Department did not take this crime lightly, as it followed a string of other acts of vandalism that took place earlier in the week. The Seattle Times reported that two of the teenagers have been caught and are now keeping each other company in juvenile detention. One 18-year-old remains on the loose, but Detective Pete Erickson told SeattlePI.com that boy’s attorney expects him to come forward. If only that was the end of it for the students at Northwest Yeshiva High School; basketball tryouts are right around the corner.

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.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

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.