Article content
An organization representing London’s Jewish community is thanking police for their swift action after an elementary school in the city’s northwest was targeted with antisemitic graffiti for the second time in four months.
Officials with Jewish London said anti-Semitic slurs and symbols were painted on and around Emily Carr public school, the site of a similar incident that resulted in charges against the same suspect just months ago.
Article content
“The Jewish community is a target of discrimination and we’ve seen the amount of incidents here in London increase,” said Rob Nagus, executive director of Jewish London. “We’re concerned, but grateful to police for their ongoing support.”
London police were notified about vandalism at a school on Hawthorne Road, a residential street near Gainsborough and Wonderland roads, at about 7 a.m. Monday.
The Thames Valley District school board confirmed Wednesday that Emily Carr public school was targeted by the graffiti.
Surveillance footage showed a man damaged the property shortly before midnight on Sunday, police said in a news release Tuesday.
London police did not release details on the nature of the graffiti, but said the investigation has been assigned to the department’s hate crime unit.
Mariusz Christopher Grabarczyk, 41, of London, is charged with mischief under $5,000 and three counts of failing to comply with a release order.
Grabarczyk was also charged this summer after London police said a man spray-painted “hate-related phrases and messaging” on and around a Hawthorne Road school.
Article content
Photos on social media showed antisemitic messaging scrawled on the sidewalk outside Emily Carr public school and a school board spokesperson confirmed the August incident occurred at Emily Carr.
Graffiti referring to “Jews” and including the N-word was visible outside the school after the summer incident before it was removed.
Emily Carr public school has approximately 750 pupils in Kindergarten to Grade 8 and is named after the famous Canadian artist, who died in 1945.
Recommended from Editorial
Share this article in your social network
