Montana Police call on community to help stop antisemitic vandalism
Antisemitic vandalism was spotted on a billboard off Highway 93, as well as on silos by downtown Kalispell, as well as on signs, doors and private buildings.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFAntisemitism in the United States: Antisemitic graffiti on The Rock landmark at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, blaming Jews for the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, September, 2019(photo credit: ADL)
Police are calling on the community to help find the people responsible for a recent series of antisemitic vandalism incidents in Kalispell, Montana, local CBS affiliate KTVQ reported Thursday.Antisemitic vandalism was spotted on a billboard off Highway 93, as well as on silos by downtown Kalispell, as well as on signs, doors and private buildings.Police are working to find those responsible, as these crimes could lead to significant time in jail, but according to police chief Doug Overman, it isn't known if the incidents are related, KTVQ reported.Recognizing their lack of information, Overman has turned to the local community for help.“This is where we’re asking for help from our community," he said, according to KTVQ."We have only so many eyes out in the field. Sometimes areas are not covered under camera. If someone has a camera that covers an area or has some eye witness information we would ask you to please come forward with that.”He added that “We don’t want this to occur in our community. We don’t want this to be the message about what Kalispell stands for. If we can get there and intervene and maybe change the trajectory somewhere, we would love to do that.”Cherilyn DeVries, community organizer for the nonprofit Love Live Here in the Flathead Valley, called on the community to speak out if they spot antisemitic messages.“A lot of people want to believe oh it’s just vandalism, if you just ignore it, it will go away. No it doesn't," DeVris said, according to KTVQ."This kind of stuff needs sunlight on it, it needs to be exposed for the hateful damaging rhetoric that it is.”
