Swastikas and anti-semitic language were spray-painted on the side of the Florida Holocaust Museum last night.
According to St. Petersburg Police Department spokesperson Yolanda Fernandez, the phrase “Jews are guilty”, along with multiple swastikas, was graffitied along the 1st Avenue S side of the museum, at 55 5th St. S.
Fernandez says the incident happened at around 4 a.m. this morning, and is currently being investigated as a hate crime. The graffiti has since been removed, and SPPD is asking for any information to help in the investigation.
St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman responded to the vandalism on Twitter. “Even St. Pete isn’t immune to the hate that exists in our society,” said Kriseman. “We stand with our Jewish Community.”
This is the second incident involving swastikas and other Nazi graffiti in St. Pete over the last couple months. On March 20, “Heil Hitler,” along with other Nazi symbols were spray-painted over the SHINE mural located inside the Ray’s Tunnel between Ferg’s Sports Bar and Tropicana Field.
As previously reported, the SHINE vandalism is not currently being investigated as a hate crime because there’s so specific target. Unlike the vandalism at the Holocaust museum.
According to a recent report from the Anti-Defamation League, over the past two years St. Pete has experienced at least 15 incidents related to hate, extremist and Anti-Semitic behavior.
Support local journalism in these crazy days. Our small but mighty team is working tirelessly to bring you up to the minute news on how Coronavirus is affecting Tampa and surrounding areas. Please consider making a one time or monthly donation to help support our staff. Every little bit helps.
Subscribe to our newsletter and follow @cl_tampabay on Twitter.
This article appears in May 27 – Jun 2, 2021.
