Antisemitic graffiti outside of Yale Law School sparks investigation

“We are saddened by this act of hate against our community at any time but we understand that this is particularly difficult occurring between the High Holy Days.”

By JESSICA SCHLADEBECK/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS/TNS

OCTOBER 17, 2019 10:19

Man in a hoodie spray painting graffiti (illustrative) (photo credit: INGIMAGE) — Man in a hoodie spray painting graffiti (illustrative)

(photo credit: INGIMAGE)

Antisemitic graffiti scrawled alongside the word “Trump” outside Yale Law School has sparked an investigation at the New Haven university.

A white swastika, spray-painted above the president’s name, appeared on the law school steps amid the Jewish High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the Yale Daily News reported. The offensive markings were covered with black paint and a doormat Sunday afternoon and fully removed from the building’s side entrance by Monday.

“We are saddened by this act of hate against our community at any time but we understand that this is particularly difficult occurring between the High Holy Days,” associate dean of students at Yale Law, Ellen Cosgrove, said.

“Diversity and inclusion are core values of our institution and attacks against individual students or communities of students will not be tolerated.”

Law School Dean Heather Gerken in a statement condemned the incident as “utterly antithetical” to Yale’s values and what the school represents.

“Yale Law School has zero tolerance for discrimination or harassment of any kind, and symbols of hate have no place on our campus or in our society,” she said in a statement.

“We take an incident like this extremely seriously and are currently investigating.”

School officials told the Yale Daily there is no evidence to suggest a student is behind the graffiti or that it’s “part of a larger campaign” against the school’s Jewish community.

Rabbi Jason Rubenstein, the university’s Jewish chaplain, said Yale Police visited “all other likely targets of antisemitic activity” and that officers are “relying on video footage” to find the suspect or suspects.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to contact Gerken’s office or the Yale Police Department.

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