Jewish Fraternity House at Cal Poly Defaced With Swastikas in Anti-Semitic Hate Crime

A Jewish fraternity house at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo was defaced with swastikas and other anti-Semitic graffiti over the weekend.

“This morning, a hateful group of people committed an antisemitic hate crime on our chapter house,” the Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) fraternity wrote in an Instagram post on Saturday. “We awoke to multiple swastikas and antisemitic statements spray-painted on and in front of our house. This was targeted at us, as the Jewish fraternity, and we would like to let the world know we do not tolerate or condone this behavior. Our chapter and the entire San Luis Obispo Jewish community stand together proudly against those who are uneducated and who encourage hateful acts.”

 

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The incident was reported to the San Luis Obispo Police Department and an investigation has been opened.

According to Interim San Luis Obispo Police Chief Jeff Smith, the department’s hate crimes investigator is involved in the probe.

There were no known witnesses to the incident, and police were still looking for leads, with no arrests having been made as of yet. Anyone with relevant information is asked to contact the San Luis Obispo Police Department.

A joint statement put out by top Cal Poly officials said, “Let us be perfectly clear: behavior that promotes any form of hate and seeks to make members of our community feel unsafe and unwelcome — especially in their own home — has absolutely no place in our community.”

“This incident occurred on the Shabbat, a day of religious observance in the Jewish community that takes place from sundown on Friday until sundown on Saturday, making this especially hurtful to members of the community,” the statement noted.

It continued, “The residents of that house have begun to clean and repair the damage. While the visible scars may fade away, the emotional scars will last much longer. As members of the community, we are struggling to comprehend the heinous nature of this crime, alongside our Jewish community.”

San Luis Obispo Mayor Heidi Harmon denounced the incident, saying it was meant to “make the Jewish students of our community more fearful, more anxious, and more vulnerable.”

Harmon declared, “Now is the time for action. Our city has the resources, the determination, and the tenacity to build a community that belongs to every one of us, that allows every one of us to flourish and thrive, and that lets every one of us feel welcome and part of something greater here. Our actions now will be the strong antidote to those who have weaponized hate here.”