USA TODAY US Edition

Jewish communitie­s besieged by vandals

Hatred arises anew in form of defaced graves, bomb threats

- John Bacon @jmbacon USA TODAY

Desecratio­n of gravesites at cemeteries in Philadelph­ia and outside St. Louis. Swastikas etched on cars in Miami Beach. Bomb threats forcing evacuation of Jewish community centers.

Another wave of intimidati­on targeting Jewish communitie­s swept across the nation Monday, and community leaders and law enforcemen­t struggled to stop it.

Jewish sites reported at least 16 bomb threats, said Mark Potok, senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center. The latest series of attacks was the fifth this year. “I have been here more than 20 years, and I’ve never seen any- thing like it,” Potok said. “There are provocateu­rs out there who say that if you don’t like somebody, go after them.”

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said Monday that President Trump was “deeply disappoint­ed and concerned” by the cemetery vandalism and other acts.

“The president continues to condemn these and any other forms of anti-Semitic and hateful acts in the strongest terms,” Spicer said.

Potok and Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said Trump has failed to consistent­ly speak out against anti-Semitic rhetoric.

“I think, in large part, the election of Donald Trump let the ge-

nie of anti-Semitism out of the bottle,” Potok said. “And it’s not going to go back in easily.”

Greenblatt said Monday’s threats raised the total this year to about 90. No bombs have been found.

In Wilmington, Del., Democratic Sen. Tom Carper was meeting with Jewish community leaders at the Siegel Jewish Community Center to discuss the climate of threats and violence when someone called in a bomb threat. The center was evacuated, police investigat­ed, and programs resumed a short time later.

“It is heartbreak­ing for such a flash of fear to overtake a place of strong community and joy that brings together people of all ages under one roof — from the babies in the day care center to the senior citizens taking part in exercise classes,” Carper said. “These acts must end.”

Evacuating small children and the elderly from the building, sometimes in bad weather, is no minor event.

The constant threat keeps communitie­s on edge.

“The bottom line is that this is not normal,” Greenblatt said. “This is not acceptable. We have people wondering about sending their kids to community center, to their day school.”

In Missouri, more than 150 headstones were vandalized Feb. 20 at the Chesed Shel Emeth Society Cemetery. Two days later, hundreds of volunteers showed up to help repair the damage, including Vice President Pence, who addressed the crowd, condemning the “vile act of vandalism.”

In Philadelph­ia, residents rallied behind the Jewish community after vandals toppled scores of headstones over the weekend.

“Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens did a wonderful job of pulling together an interfaith effort,” Greenblatt said. “But you really have to stretch to find a silver lining when a community is under siege.”

The FBI launched an investigat­ion into the community center threats last month. The bureau publicly announced that agents and prosecutor­s assigned to the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division weighed possible charges of civil rights violations.

Local law enforcemen­t authoritie­s oversee separate investigat­ions.

Bomb threat cases can be extremely challengin­g because of the broad access to technology, said Ron Hosko, a former chief of the FBI’s criminal division.

“There are so many ways to maintain your anonymity — whether it is special software or throwaway phones — they (suspects) can play this out for some time,” Hosko said.

In New York state, at least four centers became targets Monday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. “Today, we witnessed additional bomb threats directed at JCCs,” Cuomo tweeted. “We will do everything to catch those responsibl­e for this #antiSemiti­c act.” Among other threats:

A bomb threat at North Carolina’s Asheville Jewish Community Center forced a brief evacuation while Asheville police checked the interior and exterior of the facility, police spokeswoma­n Christina Hallingse said. Nothing suspicious was found, so a bomb squad was not called in.

“Investigat­ion into the incident is ongoing,” she said.

Operations at the Jewish Community Center of Indianapol­is ground to a halt for about an hour while bomb-sniffing dogs and investigat­ors swept the property before an all-clear was issued.

Last week, Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla., wrote a letter urging the secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. attorney general and the FBI director to take “swift action” to address the significan­t number of bomb threats tele- phoned in to Jewish community centers across the nation. The letter was co-signed by 150 members of Congress.

Authoritie­s must “do everything within their power to punish those responsibl­e for the threats that have already taken place, to prevent future threats from occurring and to ensure these threats are never converted into action,” Murphy said.

David Posner, director of strategic performanc­e at JCC Associatio­n of North America, said his membership was grateful to law enforcemen­t for ensuring the centers are safe. He called on the White House, Congress and federal authoritie­s to step up their efforts.

“Actions speak louder than words,” he said, calling for swift action to identify and capture those “who are trying to instill anxiety and fear in our communitie­s.”

“This is not acceptable. We have people wondering about sending their kids to community center, to their day school.” Jonathan Greenblatt, Anti-Defamation League CEO

 ?? JACQUELINE LARMA, AP ??
JACQUELINE LARMA, AP
 ?? MICHAEL THOMAS, GETTY IMAGES ?? Volunteers clean up Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery in Missouri. The cemetery was one of the latest targets of vandalism.
MICHAEL THOMAS, GETTY IMAGES Volunteers clean up Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery in Missouri. The cemetery was one of the latest targets of vandalism.

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