Hoax Alert: A Swastika for Spastics (2017)

According to the Jewish Daily Forward the following has occurred in Atlanta in 2017:

‘A Swastika and other symbols were spray-painted on a playground for children with special needs in Georgia.

A pentagram and images of genitals were also painted at In Harmony Pediatric Therapy, which is currently building a large new play area at their new building in Cherokee County.

“It’s horrible, it’s everything we’re not for. We are for kids, we try to be the sunshine in their day because these parents and these kids have a lot going on,” co-owner Jennifer Puckett told local TV station Fox 5 Atlanta.

The organization offers speech, physical, occupational and physical therapy. They have now installed security cameras and county police will be patrolling the area more often.’ (1)

Now I am not surprised that this should be reported as a so-called ‘anti-Semitic hate crime’ despite the fact that it is patently ludicrous to do so. The reason for this is because even the Jewish Daily Forward’s summary clearly states that the swastika was just one of three ‘offensive symbols’ that also included a pentagram and a penis.

So in other words; someone (or some persons) broke into the playground of ‘In Harmony Pediatric Therapy’ and spray painted three symbols that were likely to trigger a response from the organisation itself and the media more broadly.

This in and of itself informs us that this isn’t an ‘anti-Semitic hate crime’, but rather is simply people – likely local teenagers – trolling this organisation and the media.

Scratch another hoax.

References

(1) http://forward.com/fast-forward/387696/swastika-spray-painted-on-special-needs-playground/