Perpetrators of antisemitic vandalism could be charged with hate crimes
Allegheny County District Attorney: "I'm not going to have those types of institutions targeted for any purpose, political or otherwise."
Law enforcement officials are taking the recent antisemitic vandalism at Chabad of Squirrel Hill and the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh “extremely seriously” and are prepared to charge the perpetrators with crimes that could warrant jail time.
During a Thursday news conference at Pittsburgh Police Zone 4 headquarters, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. said he believes the defacement of Chabad and the Federation on Monday morning is “hate speech,” and the crimes include elements of ethnic intimidation at the state level.
U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania Eric G. Olshan also is considering federal charges, Zappala said.
On Monday, vandals marked Chabad with an inverted red triangle, a symbol used by Hamas to target Israeli military sites. Chabad was also defaced with the words “Jews 4 Palestine.” A sign outside the Federation linked the umbrella Jewish institution with funding “genocide” and included the words “❤️ Jews, hate Zionist.”
The vandalism followed several incidents of antisemitic graffiti around Pittsburgh since Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror attack in Israel.
Zappala said that officials were looking at “a series of five different incidents involving vandalism on its face,” including Monday’s defacement of Chabad and the Federation. He considers the most recent graffiti messaging an “escalation in hate in terms of communication.”
“I’m very concerned about that,” he said. “And that’s one of the reasons I wanted to talk to the United States attorney about where those guys are at and what are what they’re thinking.”
“There are a number of state crimes or a number of federal crimes potentially,” Zappala said. “I think the institution that was tagged is not only respected in the community, generally, but it’s very respected within the ecumenical community. And I’m not going to have those types of institutions targeted for any purpose, political or otherwise. And that’s why I’m saying I think it’s hate speech because I don’t think this is an appropriate way to communicate our First Amendment right.”
Zappala said that while the investigation is proceeding, officials are not yet ready to “charge a particular type of crime,” but are “investigating the vandalism aspect and the ethnic intimidation aspect.”
The chiefs of police are coordinating with the two detectives on the case, as well as the FBI, Zappala said, looking for things “that in the abstract may not be all that significant, but when you look at everything together, and if they tie back to these we believe in association, then you know there may be something serious that we have to be concerned about in our county.”
While Zappala would not comment on whether officials had identified a suspect, he said “They’re moving in the right direction.”
There is evidence, he noted, that more than one person could have been involved in at least one incident.
“Tagging a church or tagging an ecumenical structure or some structure that’s extremely well respected in the community — I think you crossed the line,” Zappala said.
Zappala’s message to the perpetrators, he said, is that they will be charged, either under state or federal law.
“I will discuss the matter with the United States Attorney’s Office, because the crimes that we can charge you with under federal law are much more substantial than under state law,” he said. “But right now, you know, Eric [Olshan] has pledged that we’re going to work together on this, and we’ll do whatever is in the best interest of the community.”
“I don’t want to see hate on the rise,” Zappala said. “And so everybody understands there’s some exigency to getting this matter resolved. I want to know what it is. I want to know if there’s a threat beyond what was actually done that I can put my finger on right now.” PJC
Toby Tabachnick can be reached at ttabachninck@pittsburghjewishchronicle.org.
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