A Calabasas man who allegedly posted swastikas and other anti-Semitic messages on a balcony in the Park Sorrento Condominiums on Jan. 14 is refusing to remove them.
The Los Angeles Times reports that the signs featured “Nazi emblems alongside American flags and profanity-laced diatribes.” The signs also criticized Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), among other politicians.
A police report was filed on the signs, but the police told KTLA that “they could not make the man take down the messages since they were posted in his private residence.”
The condo’s board members told ABC7 that the man refuses to permanently remove the signs, despite the board constantly fining him.
Video footage from KTLA shows a man shouting, “Call the White House!” as he throws papers down to reporters featuring the same messages as the signs on the balcony.
Calabasas Mayor Alicia Weintraub condemned the signs in a statement to ABC7.
“This type of material and language has no place in our community and we will do everything we can to get it down,” she said. “Thank you to the residents who contacted the sheriff. I know we all feel sick that someone can so freely put up such hateful language in our community.”
American Jewish Committee Los Angeles Regional Director Richard S. Hirschhaut said in a statement to the Journal, “This obviously is a troubled individual in need of intervention by the appropriate social service agencies. It is particularly sad and disturbing that his social pathology includes a toxic stew of antisemitism and hate. Putting his vitriol on display is understandably unnerving to his neighbors and the community.”
The Los Angeles Human Rights Commission released a report on Sept. 25 stating that anti-Semitic hate crimes in Los Angeles increased 14% from 2017 to 2018.
UPDATE: Weintraub announced in a Facebook post, “The City of Calabasas has notified the homeowner on Park Sorrento he has 24 hours to remove the offensive material posted on his property since it violates city code covering inflammatory language and threats to others.”
Anti-Defamation League Los Angeles Senior Associate Regional Director Matt Friedman told the Journal in a phone interview that the signs had the swastikas in conjunction with the words “Death to America,” which he said was disturbing rhetoric. He added that he hoped community pressure would cause the signs to be taken down.
“People… understandly would like to see this type of rhetoric stop and I hope that as a community we can find an amicable solution to this,” Friedman said.
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