Jewish Center Marked with Anti-Semitic Graffiti

RIVERSIDE, CA — Vandals marred the Chabad Jewish Community Center late Thursday with anti-Semitic graffiti in German and swastikas.

The words and symbols were painted in purple on the center’s suite within a nondescript office building on Riverside’s Arlington Avenue.

The center and the Anti-Defamation League are offering a $1,000 reward for information.

Rabbi Shmuel M. Fuss said the center has received threatening phone calls in the past but nothing as shocking as the markings Thursday night.

The windows were covered with swastikas, an “SS,” and words such as “Actung! Juden,” which translates to “Warning! Jews.”

“Your average kid doesn’t know this kind of stuff,” he said.

He is now worried for the safety of his family and the local Jewish community, especially with upcoming Passover events.

But he also wants to encourage residents to not be afraid and not be ashamed.

Police responded Thursday night and searched the area, said Lt. Tim Bacon, of the Riverside Police Department. More graffiti, which Fuss said was anti-Latino, was found in an alley about a block away. One witness reported seeing two people dressed in dark clothing leaving the area.

The city cleaned up the paint Friday morning.

Such vandalism has been rare in the city but other parts of the region have had more reports.

Riverside County ranked third in the state for reported hate crimes, based on the attorney general’s 2007 data, the most recent available.