Swastika drawn onto California synagogue wall, officials say. ‘No room for such hate’

A maintenance worker for a synagogue in Northern California discovered the building had been vandalized with a hateful symbol on Wednesday, Rabbi Avi Schulman of the Temple Beth Torah in Fremont told McClatchy News in a phone interview.

A small swastika appeared to have been drawn onto the wall of Temple Beth Torah, a Reform synagogue, in Fremont with a black pen or marker, Geneva Bosques, a spokesperson for the Fremont Police Department, told McClatchy in an email. The synagogue is not regularly open because of the COVID-19 pandemic, so while the worker discovered the vandalism on Wednesday, it’s unclear when the incident took place, according to Schulman.

“It’s disturbing,” said Jill Ziman, the temple administrator, according to The Jewish News of Northern California. “It’s sad that this still happens.”

Police had sought surveillance videos or images from security cameras in the area in an attempt to identify the suspect, Schulman said. Officers were unable to find any video evidence, according to Bosques.

Ronnie Petersohn, president of the temple, told congregants in an email that police would investigate the incident as a hate crime, the Jewish News reported.

Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat who represents California’s 17th district and lives in Fremont, reacted to the vandalism on social media.

“There is no room for such hate in our diverse and inclusive community,” Khanna said in a message sent to Rabbi Avi Schulman, which was posted on the synagogue’s Facebook page.

Khanna also expressed his outrage on his personal Twitter account.

“It is sad and outrageous to have this act of antisemitism in my hometown of Fremont where a synagogue was defaced with a swastika,” Khanna tweeted. “The perpetrators of this hate crime must be held accountable.”

This story was originally published February 12, 2021 at 1:51 PM.