Headstones vandalized with swastikas at Illinois Jewish cemetery

Greater than a dozen headstones at an Illinois Jewish cemetery had been vandalized with swastikas on Monday, police stated.

Police discovered 16 giant headstones with “giant pink spray-painted swastikas” at Congregation Am Echod Jewish Cemetery in Waukegan, a metropolis about 45 miles north of Chicago, in line with a press release from Keith Zupec, chief of police for the Waukegan Police Division.

Police additionally discovered one other 23 headstones “that had been defaced with non-specific pink spray-painted graffiti,” in line with the assertion from Zupec.

Video obtained by Fox affiliate WFLD of Chicago exhibits that at the very least one of many headstones was additionally defaced with what seems to learn, “Kanye was ceremony,” referencing the current antisemitic feedback by the rapper Ye, previously generally known as Kanye West.

Brad Goodman, spokesperson for the Waukegan Mayor’s Workplace, informed NBC Information that WFLD’s report seems correct, however that officers “can’t affirm verbatim what was written, because the writing is troublesome to learn.”

Officers with the congregation couldn’t instantly be reached.

Comparable antisemitic messages referencing the rapper’s feedback have additionally appeared over an L.A. freeway and at a Florida-Georgia soccer sport final month.

The vandalism on the Illinois cemetery comes as antisemitic incidents have been on the rise throughout the nation.

Waukegan’s mayor, Ann Taylor, condemned the vandalism in a press release, including that she was “deeply disturbed and angered by the hateful imagery.”

“Hate doesn’t have a house in Waukegan; when such incidents happen, our marginalized neighbors are victimized, and our whole group suffers,” Taylor stated. “I hope our officers promptly find the perpetrators of this despicable act and maintain them accountable, and I supply my full help to these immediately impacted by this vandalism.”

Rep. Brad Schneider, a Democrat who represents the town, stated in a tweet he was “shocked and appalled” by the vandalism.

“Hate has no residence right here,” he wrote.

“Antisemitism should neither be normalized nor accepted,” he continued in another tweet.

The Waukegan Police Division’s Felony Investigation Division is investigating, police stated.