A swastika, as well as anti-gay graffiti, were found on a stairwell landing in front of a few New Jersey homes on Oct. 12, across the street from a church that was similarly vandalized with Satanic graffiti in Trenton, New Jersey, the Trentonian reports.
The swastika with the words “f—s live here” next to male genitalia were spray-painted in black on the stairwell landing. The Trenton Church of God of Prophecy was vandalized with red spray paint that read, “Suck the devil’s d—.”
Trenton Police Capt. Stephen Varn told the Trentonian that both instances of graffiti are being investigated as hate crimes and that they could be connected.
Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora condemned the graffiti in a statement to the Trentonian, saying, “Hate speech has no place in a diverse city such as Trenton. It has caused alarm. We hope this is a singular incident and not a pattern. This also seems to be reverberating across the county, the freely practiced politics of destruction.”
According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), anti-Semitic incidents in New Jersey increased from 216 in 2017 to 236 in 2018.
ADL New York and New Jersey Director Evan Bernstein tweeted, “Very disturbing image and report of horrible hate #graffiti in #Trenton. This is becoming the new normal locally and nationally. We as a society cannot let that happen. Thank you to local law enforcement for investigating.”
Very disturbing image and report of horrible hate #graffiti in #Trenton. This is becoming the new normal locally and nationally. We as a society cannot let that happen. Thank you to local law enforcement for investigating. #noplaceforhate https://t.co/A5SGxtOkuP
— Evan R. Bernstein (@bernstein_evan) October 15, 2019
