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.
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