Images of swastikas found at Sacramento State; leaders denounce rising hate incidents
Campus officials, elected leaders and community members gathered Friday at Sacramento State University to speak out against hate after two Nazi swastikas were found by members of the campus.
The first image of a swastika, a hateful antisemitic image, was found Thursday, when a student reported finding the swastika on a classroom wall in Solano Hall. The second swastika was found Friday morning, when an employee spotted a swastika along J Street near the entrance to campus. Campus staff were working to remove the offensive images, school officials said.
“I love Sacramento State. I love Sacramento. That swastika is not Sac State. It has no place here. It has no place on J Street,” Sacramento State President Robert S. Nelsen told reporters during a news conference on campus. “That hateful sign does not represent our cities or this university.”
Nelsen said he doesn’t believe the swastikas found at Sacramento State are related, but they are a reminder to the community to consistently and proactively stand against antisemitism, white supremacy and all other forms of hate on campus.
Hate crimes reported last year in California were the sixth-highest ever recorded and were at the highest the state has seen since the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks more than 20 years ago. The state Department of Justice 2021 Hate Crime in California Report documented 1,763 reported hate crimes last year; a 32.6% jump from 1,330 hate crimes in 2020.
This is the second time in a week a college campus in the capital region has been the target of a hate incident involving antisemitic imagery and rhetoric. The UC Davis Police Department is investigating after antisemitic statements were displayed on banners on a campus overpass Sunday.
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said he and other community leaders rushed to gather Friday for a united show of support and to speak out against these hate incidents.
“If we let small, medium or large displays of hate go unresponded to, then the people who perpetrate these hateful symbols, and who knows what else they are perpetrating, get the message ‘that well is just plain okay,’” Steinberg told reporters. “It’s not OK. Hate has no place in our Sacramento. It’s not what we are about. It’s never been what we are about.”
The Sacramento Police Department is investigating the incidents. Nelsen said defacing property is a criminal act, and “perpetrators of such crimes will always be held accountable.”
Nelsen urged others, like the student and campus employee this week, to report any symbols of hate or other concerning images or language on campus by using the Sacramento State anti-bias reporting tool. He said reporting these incidents “ensures that we can quickly remove hateful images and publicly condemn them.”
Campus officials plan on crafting a new goal in their Antiracism and Inclusion Campus Action Plan on how they will respond to this type of vandalism. Administrators plan on conducting regular campus walk-throughs.
This story was originally published September 2, 2022 at 1:22 PM.
