Sacramento: Sports star Casspi's mural found defaced again

Mural of Israeli basketball player, Omri Casspi, sprayed with swastika for second time in little more than two weeks.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
omri casspi 311 (photo credit: AP)
omri casspi 311
(photo credit: AP)
A mural of famous Israeli basketball player Omri Casspi was defaced Thursday with a swastika for the second time in a little more than a week.
Police reported that the mural was found defaced just a week after the the Sacramento Kings player discovered a swastika drawn onto his forehead in a billboard photo in the California city where his team play.
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Casspi is the only NBA player born in Israel.
"We absolutely condemn these sickening acts of intolerance, and we're working closely with the Anti-Defamation League to support the Sacramento Police Department and help bring those responsible to justice," Kings co-owner Joe Maloof said in statement.
He also announced that the Kings are matching the ADL's $1,000 contribution to Crime Alert's reward fund, bringing the total reward for information about the crimes to $2,000.
Casspi has yet to formally react to the latest incident but told the Sacramento Bee newspaper last week that  "everybody's talking about it. It's hurtful to think that this is 2010, and there are still people like that out there."
"I almost don't know what to say. It's probably just some idiot who wants some publicity. But I know the people in Sacramento, and they have been wonderful to me. I know they must feel bad about this. Same thing with the Kings. I'll just let the police handle this and focus on having a great season," he said.
A backward swastika was painted on the forehead of Casspi's photo on the billboard. The incident was reported to police at around noon on September 8, although it is not clear when the hateful act of vandalism was committed.


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