Police are trying to find a person who drew a swastika exterior a Beverly Hills elementary college on Monday, which marked the beginning of the Jewish vacation Rosh Hashana.
The hate image was found exterior El Rodeo Elementary College and drawn on the sidewalk by a person who was captured on surveillance video, the Beverly Hills Unified College District introduced.
The swastika was eliminated and a police investigation is underway.
“This hateful image was seen simply steps away from a campus the place college students, employees, and households arrive to be taught and really feel secure,” the college district mentioned in a press release. “Antisemitism just isn’t summary, it’s actual, and it continues to indicate up in methods that are supposed to intimidate. We need to be clear: hate of any sort just isn’t acceptable. Above all we stay dedicated to making sure that each scholar feels secure, seen, and supported each day.”
“Each scholar deserves to return to highschool with out worry,” Supt. Alex Cherniss mentioned in a press release. “Our district will act with transparency, duty, and care when hate harms our group. Your security is our high precedence.”
The district says it has improved its security and surveillance throughout its campuses in recent times, together with its emergency coaching and the way it responds to threats.
Surveillance video offered by the college district captured a person carrying a white T-shirt and baseball cap bend over and draw the image on the bottom. Nonetheless, Beverly Hills police mentioned they haven’t recognized the person or made an arrest.
The incident arrives through the Jewish Excessive Holy Days, which began on Monday with Rosh Hashana and can prolong to Yom Kippur on Oct. 1. The Los Angeles Police Division elevated police patrols round Jewish locations of worship and group facilities to make sure that the group is secure from any acts of antisemitism.
Beverly Hills Mayor Sharona Nazarian mentioned the swastika was positioned on the bottom “a number of weeks in the past” and was solely not too long ago flagged by somebody locally.
“Because the Excessive Holy days strategy, BHPD works diligently to make sure the safety of our group and has elevated patrols round homes of worship throughout this time,” Nazarian mentioned. “We stand in UNITY towards hate, discrimination, and antisemitism. By no means Once more is Now.”
