Hours before President Donald Trump returned to Grand Rapids for his final campaign stop, someone wrote "TRUMP" and "MAGA" in red spray paint on tombstones in a local Jewish cemetery.
The graffiti was discovered on Monday morning at Ahavas Israel Cemetery. According to the Anti-Defamation League, the vandalism is being investigated by law enforcement.
"We are appalled by the reported desecration of gravestones at the Ahavas Israel Cemetery in Grand Rapids, MI," they wrote on Twitter. "We are in close touch with the Jewish community and Law Enforcement to investigate this vandalism."
We are appalled by the reported desecration of gravestones at the Ahavas Israel Cemetery in Grand Rapids, MI. We are in close touch with the Jewish community and Law Enforcement to investigate this vandalism. pic.twitter.com/mVeGrlsWxE
— ADL Michigan (@ADLMichigan) November 2, 2020
U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, the Palestinian-American Republican-turned-Libertarian Congressman whose district includes Grand Rapids, condemned the graffiti on Twitter.
"We stand united with our Jewish friends and neighbors against this disgusting act of vandalism, desecration, and hate toward our fellow human beings," he wrote. "Anti-Semitism must find no home in our community."
We stand united with our Jewish friends and neighbors against this disgusting act of vandalism, desecration, and hate toward our fellow human beings. Anti-Semitism must find no home in our community. https://t.co/yuf2oHTQco
— Justin Amash (@justinamash) November 2, 2020
But Ahavas Israel rabbi David J.B. Krishef said it was not clear if the vandalism was anti-Semitic.
“"It's Halloween weekend, there was nothing spray-painted that indicated anything specifically anti-Semitic," Krishef told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency Monday. "Whoever did this may or may not have known that this was a Jewish cemetery."
Last year, someone plastered anti-Semitic posters on the door of the Temple Emanuel synagogue in Grand Rapids. The posters were credited to the neo-Nazi group Vorherrschaft Division, and had messages like a picture of Hitler with the words "Did you forget about me?" and "A crusade against Semite led subhumans."
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