Members of the Pittsburgh Jewish community faced another act of antisemitism on Monday as vandals defaced multiple religious buildings, including in Squirrel Hill just steps from the location of the heinous 2018 Tree of Life Synagogue shooting that claimed 11 lives.
The Chabad of Squirrel Hill, the city of Pittsburgh neighborhood where Tree of Life massacre happened 6 years ago, just discovered this tag which includes the pink triangle popularized by the Hamas propaganda videos
This happened 2 days after protesters marched thru Pittsburgh pic.twitter.com/RYmHtralat— ZitoSalena (@ZitoSalena) July 29, 2024
The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, located in South Oakland, had its front sign defaced with an arrow pointing from the building’s title to the words “Funds genocide ♥ Jews, Hate Zionist”. The Chabad of Squirrel Hill, in the heart of Pittsburgh’s Jewish community, had its building desecrated with graffiti stating, “Jews 4 Palestine” and an upside-down red triangle – a symbol often used by Hamas to mark targets for attack.
Property at houses near the Squirrel Hill site was also vandalized according to Shawn Brokos, director of community security with the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, who said several “We stand with Israel” yard signs also were defaced.
Pittsburgh police Chief Larry Scirotto said security footage from the Chabad of Squirrel Hill showed a black sedan outside the building around 1:40 AM Monday morning, along with one suspicious individual. The police are unsure if this was the act of one person or a group and currently no suspects have been named in the ongoing investigation.
In a press release, the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh wrote that they were “angered and disgusted by the acts of antisemitic graffiti and vandalism” before continuing, “vandalism targeting Jews is criminal hate speech, pure and simple.”
Local and statewide officials and politicians were quick to join in on denouncing the antisemitic attacks.
Pittsburgh-area Congresswoman Summer Lee, whose district includes both sites of vandalism, denounced the desecration of religious sites on social media, but did not mention the Jewish community that was affected or refer to antisemitism.
Senator Bob Casey (D- PA) took to his official X account to condemn the incident and specifically called out “the use of Hamas symbolism” referring to the inverted red triangle.
Businessman Dave McCormick, who lives near the Squirrel Hill Chabad blasted Vice President Harris and Senator Casey for “giving a free pass’ to the anti-Jewish community in a post on X.
