BROOKLYN, Ohio — The city of Brooklyn's mayor is speaking after nearly two dozen headstones were spray-painted with swastikas at a cemetery over the weekend. The Jewish community is expressing disgust at the antisemitic act, with the mayor saying they have his full support.
The Brooklyn Police Department reported that sometime late Saturday night going into early Sunday, 23 headstones at Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery on Ridge Road were painted with red swastikas. According to the Jewish Federation of Cleveland, the cemetery was started in 1902 for indigent Jews on Cleveland's west side, and it remains a very important place for area Jews.
Sunday, a group mobilized to clean off the headstones with power sprayers, oven cleaner, and rags. A Jewish woman named Danielle and her 15-year-old daughter were helping the clean-up effort.
Danielle's father is buried at the cemetery, so she felt empowered to restore it back to how it was.
"It was hard," she shared. "I don't know why you would ever want to do that to somebody's resting place, somebody's family."
She's calling whoever did this not only hateful, but ignorant.
"There's a lot of hate in this country, right?" she said. "There's a lot of hate in this world. Everybody has some kind of hate. That doesn't mean you have to deface someone's final resting place. This is where I bring my children to visit their grandfather. This is where people come to visit their families. And I have three daughters, and one is 8, and it's not an easy thing to talk about and explain to her about what's going on."
The Anti-Defamation League released a new report Monday saying antisemitic acts have risen 316% nationwide since the war between Israel and Hamas started, averaging 28 incidents a day from Oct. 7 to Nov. 7. In Ohio specifically, they've recorded 22 incidents over the same time period.
Brooklyn Mayor Ron Van Kirk is condemning antisemitism in his city and beyond.
"You see the activities that [are] going on around the world right now, and you say it's kind of far away, but then when you see that here in your own community, it's very disheartening," Van Kirk told 3News Monday. "It's very unfortunate. Desecrating graves is just beyond the pale. I hope that the people are brought to justice that did this."
Van Kirk spoke with multiple Jewish organizations on Monday. He said he wants a representative from one of them to come to a Brooklyn City Council meeting to further discuss the importance of Jews to the community and how the City can be even more supportive during these trying times.
3News also stopped by the Brooklyn Police Department Monday to get an update on the search for any suspects, but Chief Scott Mielke only told us they are actively investigating.