The USC Chabad Jewish Student Center was vandalized on the evening of June 4.
The Chabad posted to Instagram that “two thugs just smashed the glass on our front door and ran off … Thank G-d none of the kids were near the door and we are all safe. Have to figure out something to secure the front door until we can get this fixed.”
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A subsequent post from the Chabad featured a video of the incident. “They ride up, see the house, one comes towards it and then goes back to the street and another one comes with him to kick the window in,” the post stated. “The other two take off as soon as they do, and the two perps are just behind them.”
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KNBC Los Angeles reported that Chabad Rabbi Dov Wagner and his family were present at the Chabad house at the time of the incident. Wagner told the outlet that they “heard a smash, crashing glass, so I came toward the front door” and that “when you don’t know what’s coming at you, it’s a scary moment.” He vowed that they will not “back down … I believe in spreading light,” he told the station. “That’s what we do here. The more darkness in the world, the more we have to fight.”
World Jewish Congress NextGen intern Alyssa Wallack, a former Chabad Student Board President and current USC student, said in a statement posted to Instagram: “Hearing about perpetrators smashing the glass on the front door of the Chabad House felt like a personal attack. This place is my home away from home. We gather there to celebrate traditions and find warmth and belonging. This attack has made me feel unsafe in what’s supposed to be our safe space away from the climate on campus.”
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UPDATE: Wagner told The Journal in a June 6 phone interview that at the time of vandalism, he was with a bride and groom preparing for their wedding. “Suddenly we heard a smash from the front … I didn’t know at first what exactly had happened, ran towards the door, was scared that maybe somebody had shot at the house, you don’t know what’s on the other side,” he said. “Looked out and saw there wasn’t anybody there, and then we looked at the Ring video and saw that it had actually been kicked in.”
Wagner described the front door as “an old historic door” but said that “the financial implications are not severe … Much bigger than the financial impact is the sense of violation,” Wagner said. “This is a place that’s served as a home away from home for thousands of people and judging simply by the number of them I’ve heard from in the last 36 hours now, it’s something that very much feels like a violation and attack to many of them.”
He added that his “phone hasn’t stopped buzzing with hundreds of messages of support, outrage. It is heartwarming to see how many people are affected, how many people care, but at the same time, but at the same time that also makes it clear that whether or not this was targeted, this is something that has affected very many people.” Wagner said that “on our side, obviously this will only spur us to try and reach more people, bring more positivity, bring more goodness to the world.”
The Los Angeles Police Department told The Journal that they don’t have any further information on the vandalism at this time.
