A Jewish administrator at Gunn High School in Palo Alto was greeted by a backward swastika and a death threat spray-painted on his office door when he arrived at work Thursday of last week.
Palo Alto police have arrested two youths, a 15-year-old Asian male and a 17-year-old Caucasian, and one adult, Joey Shu, 18, in connection with the hate crime.
The three allegedly scrawled swear words, “187,” the California Penal Code for murder, and “420,” the date of Adolf Hitler’s birthday and also the day of the shootings at Columbine High School, police said. Red and black spray paint were also used on the outside of the campus.
All three are charged with vandalism and conspiracy, and Shu also faces charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and making terrorist threats. Penalties could be stiffer for all three since the incident has been classified as a hate crime.
“They targeted a Jewish individual, and even though they got [the swastika] wrong, the intent was still there,” said Lt. Alana Forrest of the Palo Alto Police Department.
The three were observed by other Gunn students who happened to be strewing toilet paper on school property around midnight Wednesday of last week, police said.
Two of those charged — whose names were withheld because they are juveniles — are students at the high school. The third, Shu, had attended the school but was transferred to another high school earlier this year after he failed to attend his classes. The Jewish administrator — who has decided to keep his identity private — was one member of the committee that made the decision to remove Shu.
Forrest said the case is being treated as an isolated incident, and no gang connections are suspected.
Gunn High School’s principal, Chris Rich, also believes the incident is not part of an anti-Jewish trend, saying he’s never seen anti-Semitic attacks on campus before.
While there are many Jewish students at the school, Rich said few voiced discomfort over the incident. However, other minority groups expressed concerns about safety. In addition, Forrest said the targeted administrator has experienced distress.
“I think those feelings are part of a general malaise Columbine has created,” Rich said, referring to the Colorado high school massacre. Some students went home after learning of the graffiti.
“In truth our students saw the graffiti as more directed at an individual rather than all Jews. They knew it wasn’t directed against students,” Rich said. “We took the threats seriously because we had no choice. There was no question in my mind we should have called the police when we saw them.”
Eden Mendel, assistant director of the Anti-Defamation League’s San Francisco regional office, has been communicating with the police and the school about how to address the incident.
“I think it’s sad that our children have learned to resort to name calling and death threats and that they haven’t learned to sit down and talk about their difficulties,” Mendel said.
“The fact that the swastika was backward shows some ignorance; I’m hoping these children didn’t understand the gravity of what they did.”