The attack in St. Louis is an ‘example of what happens when antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric are normalized,’ local Jewish orgs say
Three cars were torched next to graffiti that read “Death to the IDF” early Tuesday morning in a St. Louis-area incident targeting an American citizen who served in the Israel Defense Forces, according to local police and a Trump administration official.
Another message was also spraypainted on the Clayton, Mo., street, but the local outlet that published the footage, First Alert 4, blurred it “because it’s targeted at a specific individual.” According to Leo Terrell, who heads the Trump administration’s anti-Semitism task force, it called the IDF veteran a murderer. He said the three destroyed cars belonged to the vet, his family, and friends.
“I am outraged. Antisemitic violence has no place in America, not in St. Louis and not anywhere,” Terrell wrote in an X post. “We will pursue every avenue to bring the perpetrators to justice. If you commit antisemitic hate crimes, you will be caught. And you will be held accountable.”
The incident is being investigated as a hate crime, according to the Clayton Police Department. There are no suspects, and no injuries have been reported.
“We are continuing to follow every lead that we have available,” Clayton Police Department spokeswoman Jenny Schwartz told the Washington Free Beacon. “We are requesting anyone in the vicinity that has any surveillance footage to forward any possible information that would assist our investigation to our detective bureau.”
Nearly 20 percent of Jewish households in Greater St. Louis reside in Clayton and nearby University City, giving it one of the largest Jewish populations in the area, according to Brandeis University.
Several St. Louis Jewish groups condemned the attack in a joint statement Tuesday. “This is more than vandalism; it is a hateful act of intimidation and only the latest example of what happens when antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric are normalized,” the groups wrote.
The attack follows a sharp increase in anti-Semitic incidents and a stretch of high-profile terror attacks. In the year following Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack, the Anti-Defamation League recorded over 10,000 anti-Semitic incidents, a more than 200 percent increase compared with the previous year.
In April, Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro’s residence was set ablaze by a man who targeted the Democrat for his support of Israel. In late May, a radical yelled “Free Palestine” after murdering two Israeli embassy staffers outside D.C.’s Capital Jewish Museum. Less than two weeks later, an illegal immigrant from Egypt firebombed Boulder, Colo., protesters raising awareness for Israelis held hostage by Hamas, killing an 82-year-old Jewish woman.
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