Mt. Pleasant marred by antisemitic, racist graffiti

A day before the Jewish community celebrated Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, swastikas were painted on several signs and businesses in Mt. Pleasant Township and Mt. Pleasant Borough.

Along with the hate symbol, racist slogans containing the “n” word were also painted, according to Shawn Brokos, Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh’s community security director.

“We saw it on Reddit,” Brokos said. “We didn’t receive any incident reports, but that’s not unusual because it’s off the beaten path, for sure.”

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Brokos said Federation reached out to Mt. Pleasant Borough police and Pennsylvania State Police. Both departments confirmed they were aware of the vandalism and were investigating.

Mt. Pleasant is not an area where one might expect to see antisemitic activity. Greensburg, slightly more than 11 miles away, has a small Jewish community near the Westmoreland County alcove, but Mt. Pleasant, with fewer than 5,000 residents, has no sizable Jewish community.

Still, the antisemitic graffiti doesn’t shock Brokos.

“I’m no longer surprised when we get reports of antisemitic or hate graffiti, but Mt. Pleasant is a town that we have not have any interaction with because they have had no previous incidents, so in that regard, it was surprising,” she said.

No group or person on Federation’s security radar has operated in the area, she said.

Borough police asked that residents not remove the antisemitic and racist graffiti from area signs until they have completed their investigations.
Anyone observing antisemitic activity or graffiti is urged to report it to local law and to Federation. PJC

David Rullo can be reached at drullo@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.