In Bed-Stuy, Vandal Scrawls ‘Hitler Was a Hero’ on Orthodox Jewish Home
While hate speech, of late, has often targeted the American Muslim community, DNAinfo informs us that one determined vandal in Bed-Stuy is doing his best to bring anti-Semitic language back into the spotlight, with a message scrawled onto a young Hasidic couple’s home: “Hitler Was a Hero.”
An NYPD spokeswoman told DNAinfo that the perpetrator began harassing the couple on Friday night, while they were observing Shabbat, by pounding on the entrance to their building and yelling profanities. The next day, the family—at 59 Vernon Avenue—walked outside and found the profane script, along with images of a Swastica and male genitalia.
This incident, apparently, is not the first of targeted attacks on the same building, and the families who live in it, most of whom are young and Orthodox Jews, according to a man who has done contract work there. Over the last month, tenants have received both Chinese food and pizza that they did not order, with demands that they pay for the deliveries, according to DNAinfo. These disturbances were first reported by Voz Is Neias, an Orthodox Jewish website.
While members of the community purportedly feel safe otherwise, this is a clear and persistent crime of hate, and NYPD is purportedly investigating as such.
“[I]t’s just that one kid who’s doing that who needs to turn himself in,” the contract worker said.