A security officer for San Francisco’s Jewish Community Center contacted SFPD Thursday night after a perimeter check of the building revealed that an unknown suspect had defaced the building with graffiti depicting a design most commonly associated with the Nazi party.
SFPD spokesperson Officer Boaz Mariles tells the Appeal that JCC security discovered what appears to be a swastika drawn in an alcove on the Presidio-facing side of the building at 3200 California Street. Mariles says the graffiti was about 3 inches by 5 inches, and appeared to have been drawn with a purple marker.
The JCC believes the graffiti, which is considered by the SFPD to be a hate crime, was done between 6:50 PM (the time of the previous perimeter check) and 8:10 PM, when it was discovered. Though there are security cameras on the building, that specific area is not captured by surveillance, said Mariles — however, JCC spokesperson Nathaniel Bergson-Michelson clarifies that while he can’t comment specifically on the JCC’s security measures, it’s more accurate to say that it’s just this specific incident that was not captured.
However, the footage of the surrounding areas are being reviewed, and Mariles emphasized that an investigation is ongoing.
Bergson-Michelson tells us that it’s JCC policy to alert the police any time the building is vandalized, but emphasizes that “like any business in San Francisco, we are occasionally the recipient of graffiti.” He says that while they report defacements like these “out of an abundance of caution but, in respect to this incident, we see no cause for immediate concern.”
