CUMBERLAND, Maine — Jewish and civil rights groups on Tuesday condemned anti-Semitic graffiti found over the weekend at Greely Middle School in Cumberland, the second incident of spray-painted swastikas reported in recent weeks in Maine.
“It is the JCA’s understanding that the Cumberland Police Department is actively investigating this incident,” said Emily Chaleff, executive director of the Jewish Community Alliance of Southern Maine, in a Tuesday statement. “It is important that these types of acts be condemned, and that the individual [or individuals] responsible are held to account.”
In Wiscasset, eighth grader Ryan Medina was credited with spotting and alerting town officials about graffiti depicting swastikas and the acronym “KKK” — presumably for the white supremacist group Ku Klux Klan — at an Old Bath Road pump station in recent weeks.
“This vandalism is not who we are,” Greely Middle School Principal Kimberly Brandt said in a letter, according to the JCA. “It is not what we do. We are a community who stands up and speaks up against bias, prejudice and discrimination.”
Derrek L. Shulman, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League of New England, called on anyone with knowledge about the Cumberland graffiti to call the police at 829-6391 and report the crime.
It’s not unknown for such ‘outrages’ to be perpetrated by people who disagree with the sentiments expressed, in a misguided try at ‘raising consciousness’ about an issue. In fact it’s pretty common, so let’s hold off on the breast-beating until we know who’s actually responsible.