Jewish synagogue in Utah defaced with swastika symbol

Salt Lake City police investigate after a swastika was scratched into the front door of Chabad Lubavitch of Utah synagogue in Salt Lake City on Sunday, May 16, 2021. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Police in Salt Lake City are seeking clues about how a swastika symbol appeared on the front window of a Jewish synagogue Sunday morning.

“Swastikas in 2021 are not something we expect to deal with,” Utah Rabbi Avremi Zippel said on Sunday, adding that his congregation is fine, though, “a bit shaken up.”

“We will not cower in fear,” the rabbi tweeted.

A swastika scratched into the front window of a synagogue.

May 2021.

Salt Lake City, Utah.

We will not cower in fear.#AmYisraelChai pic.twitter.com/7hRqzUF9nc

— Avremi Zippel (@UtahRabbi) May 16, 2021

The act, which is being investigated as a hate crime, comes as tensions continue to escalate in Israel and Gaza. As fighting in the region has climbed to its worst levels since 2014, the Associated Press reported, Israeli airstrikes killed at least 42 people in Gaza City and destroyed three buildings Sunday.

Local and national leaders pledged support for the local community across social media platforms.

Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall called the vandalism an “act of hatred and intimidation.”

“I stand with Utah’s Jewish Community,” Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson tweeted. “Hate and bigotry have no place in our community.”

Utah Sen. Mitt Romney also responded with a recollection of how America’s first president, George Washington, welcomed Jews who were seeking religious liberty and had settled in Newport in the country’s early days. The senator tweeted on Sunday that the then-president’s actions “marked the way to be taken by all Americans.”

“Those who commit acts of vandalism against Jews or their places of worship in Salt Lake City or anywhere else only disgrace their own souls,” Romney said.

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

A parking sign at Chabad Lubavitch of Utah in Salt Lake City on Sunday, May 16, 2021. A swastika was scratched into the front door of the synagogue.

Salt Lake Police Lt. Lisa Pascadlo said police were first notified of the etching on the glass at the Chabad Community Center Synagogue at about 8:30 a.m. Sunday. Video surveillance shows the vandalism happened around 2 a.m.

The video is dark, which makes it difficult to identify the suspect. Police are asking anyone with information to call them, at 801-799-3000.

The act of vandalism carries a greater potential penalty because of the nature of the symbol, Pascadlo said.

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Salt Lake City police investigate after a swastika was scratched into the front door of Chabad Lubavitch of Utah synagogue in Salt Lake City on Sunday, May 16, 2021.

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