Hoax Confirmed: The Yad Ezra Vandal (2018)
According to the UK’s ‘Jewish News’ the following occurred in Berkeley, Michigan on 23rd September 2018:
‘Around 4 p.m. on Sept. 23, a man bicycling past Yad Ezra vandalized the property at 2850 W. 11 Mile Road in Berkley, knocking out a security camera as he attempted to take down a sukkah built on the property. The incident was recorded on a second security camera, which showed a trim man in jeans, sunglasses and a white T-shirt on his cell phone while he vandalized the property.
“The guy was just being a jerk,” said Yad Ezra Executive Director Lea Luger. “The Berkley Police have been extremely responsive and wonderful for us, and this act of vandalism has no impact whatsoever on Yad Ezra’s mission of feeding the hungry. No one was hurt, and we don’t have one less can of food [for our clients] as a result of this individual.”
Luger said the extent of the damage includes a $250 security camera, which must be replaced, plus the installation fee. Yad Ezra plans to press charges once the perpetrator is arrested. The perpetrator returned the camera to Yad Ezra on the morning of Thursday, Oct. 4.
Berkley Police Detective Andrew Hadfield said the investigation is ongoing. Though Hadfield said his department has a “possible suspect” in mind, no formal charges or arrests have been made as of Oct. 4.’ (1)
This non-anti-Semitic motive has also been endorsed by the news site ‘Click on Detroit’, which recently wrote in a follow up article that:
‘On Sept. 23, a vandal came to Yad Ezra by bike and tried to bring down the sukkah. The man also knocked off and broke one of the surveillance cameras not realizing another one was recording his face.
[…]
The vandalism is not connected to the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting that killed multiple people Saturday, Oct. 27.’ (2)
I republish this for the simple reason that – despite claims I have seen by jews on social media – this is not being – and has never been officially – treated as an ‘anti-Semitic hate crime’, but is simply a piece of petty vandalism.
References
(1) https://thejewishnews.com/2018/10/04/yad-ezra-vandal-caught-on-video/
(2) https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/police-search-for-man-who-vandalized-yad-ezra-jewish-center-in-berkley