A Jewish couple from northern Virginia returned home this week to discover that vandals had visited their home and decorated their front door with antisemitic and Nazi graffiti, on two separate occasions.
A swastika was the first nasty surprise left on the front door of their home, located in a wealthy county in northern Virginia. Mia Bermann and Shai Van Gelder returned home the following day on Tuesday evening to find the words “Jew pigs” had been added below the swastika.
Bermann posted pictures of her front door to Facebook, along with the words: “Please, tell me more about how racism, antisemitism, etc. no longer exists.
GO AHEAD. I F**KING DARE YOU. We live in the wealthiest county in Northern Virginia, 20 minutes outside of our nation’s capital. Repulsed, angry, sickened, nauseated, full of despair… none of them begin to describe what it felt like to walk up to my door and see this. Is there any kindness left in this world?!”
After returning home to find the added graffiti she uploaded a new picture, commenting: “Our newest addition. I am terrified.”
The couple reported the incidents to the police as well as to the Anti Defamation league and other Jewish organizations, in addition to arranging to install cameras at the entrance to their home.
This incident occurred the same day as Jewish community centers in at least eight states across the United States were targeted with bomb threats in the third wave of threats of this kind this month. JCCs in California, Colorado, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, New Mexico, Utah and Wisconsin all reported that they had been targeted.
Reacting to the development, which added to at least 30 previous threats called in to JCCs earlier this month, the ADL decided to expand security training it has been organizing in partnership with the FBI, on the heels of the series of bomb threats.
