JEFFERSON PARK — Police are investigating after someone left antisemitic messages on dozens of cars in Jefferson Park over the weekend.
Just after midnight Sunday, officers responded to calls that someone placed cardboard with antisemitic messages on several cars in the 5400 block of West Wilson Avenue, police said. The incident is being investigated as a hate crime. No one is in custody.
A person who lives on the block, who Block Club is not naming for safety reasons, saw 15 more signs Sunday morning on cars along two other blocks. He was told police removed 30 signs the night before, and the 15 new ones have since been removed, he said.
“While it’s troubling to see someone in our neighborhood targeting people based on nationality or religious affiliation, the fact that it has to be done in the middle of the night demonstrated that this community overwhelmingly rejects hate,” the neighbor said. “Our diversity is a strength, and we’re not going to let conspiracy theories or extremists divide us.”
The cardboard signs included discriminatory and hateful messages in thick black sharpie, as seen in photos shared with Block Club. Many included swastikas and SS lightning bolts, which are common white supremacist and neo-Nazi symbols, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
Others made mention of the film “Europa: The Last Battle,” an antisemitic, World War II revisionist film released in 2017 that wrongfully claims Jews deliberately caused both World Wars.
“Hate and bigotry will never be welcome in our city,” Police Department officials said in a statement. “Chicago Police detectives are working closely with the Civil Rights Unit on an investigation into the signs found displaying anti-Semitic language. The Office of Community Policing is also in contact with leaders in the Jewish community as we work to support and advocate for those affected by this crime.”
The signs were distributed by the Goyim Defense League, according to one of the signs. The hate group has disseminated antisemitic flyers and misinformation in California, Florida, Wisconsin, Colorado and others, CNN reported.
State Rep. Lindsey LaPointe, who represents the area, publicly took a stand against the messages and thanked the neighbors who reported them to police.
“This kind of hateful rhetoric and action has no place in our community — or anywhere else — and has very real and harmful consequences for our fellow humans,” LaPointe said in a statement. “Globally and in Illinois, we are living through a very difficult and tense time of rising anti-semitism and Islamophobia. None of it is acceptable.”
The incident is the second time in less than a year hateful vandalism has been reported in Jefferson Park. In April, a man was arrested and charged for vandalizing a neighbor’s home with anti-LGBTQ+ slogans and damaging their property.
Nationwide, there has been a surge in crimes targeting Jewish and Muslim people since the Israel-Hamas war began last month.
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