Culprits could face hate-crime penalties in what Shreveport police say was the weekend desecration of several historic Jewish graves.
Investigators went to Oakland Cemetery, on the edge of the downtown and Ledbetter Heights neighborhoods, about 2 p.m. Saturday after a groundskeeper reported that nine headstones had been overturned or broken.
Vandals Desecrate Historic Jewish Graves in Louisiana
Culprits could face hate-crime penalties in what Shreveport police say was the weekend desecration of several historic Jewish graves.
Investigators went to Oakland Cemetery, on the edge of the downtown and Ledbetter Heights neighborhoods, about 2 p.m. Saturday after a groundskeeper reported that nine headstones had been overturned or broken.
A group of LSU-Shreveport students who are working with historian Gary Joiner to electronically catalog the historic graveyard surveyed the damage Sunday.
An October tornado that destroyed nearby First United Methodist Church’s steeple and dropped it on a Shreveport artist also upturned some markers, according to geography senior Blake Lee. But the damage to tombstones in a section of the cemetery known as Hebrew Rest was new.
Vandalizing any final resting place is dishonorable in this 30-year-old Shreveporter’s view, but this weekend’s dirty work was anti-Semitic, he said.
“You’re just adding another layer of evil to it,” Lee said. “It’s like a museum. You’re pretty much destroying history.”
Because of the size of the monuments, Lee said, they would have been difficult for one person to knock down alone. Fortunately, he, Joiner and other students already had recorded whose graves these stones marked. Most were buried in 1873, when a Yellow Fever outbreak killed a quarter of Shreveport’s residents.
Police had no suspects Sunday. Considering the darkness and lack of security, it could be tough for anyone outside the cemetery to spot anything.
If anyone is arrested, they face a felony charge of property damage. Penalties include up to a $5,000 fine, five years in prison or both.
“I am certain detectives will explore every lead as they work to determine why this happened and who is responsible,” said Sgt. Bill Goodin, Police Department spokesman.
Committing a crime based on someone’s actual or perceived race, age, gender, religion, color, creed, disability, orientation, national origin or ancestry can result in hate crime charges.
