(JTA) — Hate crimes charges were filed against three teens for allegedly painting anti-Semitic graffiti on a Jewish high school in Washington State.
The teens also allegedly painted racist graffiti and swastikas on a Seattle-area church and Catholic school, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported Thursday.
Two of the teens, 17, were arrested Oct. 6 and placed in juvenile detention, according to reports. The third, Jared Reed Kadish, 19, turned himself in on Oct. 8; he had been attending college in Los Angeles, according to the newspaper.
Kadish was charged in King County Superior Court. He remains in jail and will be arraigned Oct. 27 in Seattle.
The other teens were charged Wednesday in King County Juvenile Court with malicious harassment, which is the state’s hate crime statute.
Anti-Semitic epithets and swastikas were painted in orange, blue and gray on the exterior of Northwest Yeshiva High School on Mercer Island; the graffiti included swastikas and references to gas chambers. The attack occurred late Sept. 16 and was discovered the following morning, on the eve of Yom Kippur.
The graffiti covered most of the building’s outer wall, including the second floor. Neighborhood residents helped the school to clean off the graffiti before Yom Kippur services were held in its sanctuary.
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