9 days ago
CARMICHAEL, CA - FBI and ATF agents were called in to assist in the investigation after a swastika and other hate graffiti was found spray-painted at Carmichael's Beth Shalom synagogue Tuesday.
Video surveillance outside the temple on the 4700 block of El Camino Avenue show someone committing the vandalism around 1 a.m. Tuesday, according to Sacramento County Sheriff's Sgt. Tim Curran.
"The FBI is going to analyze that to see if it does have any evidenciary value," Curran said. While the crime was captured on video, Curran said the low quality images make it impossible to fully identify the suspect. The attacker is believed to be a man seen wearing dark clothing.
Along with a swastika painted in black spray paint on a window, other graffiti included an SS -- referencing Germany's Nazi Party elite corps -- and another inscription "Kristallnacht Lives."
Kristallnacht was a massive coordinated attack against Jews across the German Reich in Germany and Austria carried out on November 9 and 10, 1938. Nearly 100 Jews were killed and as many as 30,000 more were arrested and sent to concentration camps.
The attacker also attempted to light the temple's sign on fire. The blaze singed surrounding greenery, but caused little damage to the sign or building.
Curran confirmed the Federal Bureau of Investigation was the lead agency in the case with aid from the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives, the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department and the Sacramento Metro Fire District.
"It shows hate. It shows bigotry. It shows how much we all need to be vigilant about these kinds of things," Beth Shalom Rabbi Nancy Wechsler-Azen said.
Members of the congregation quickly mobilized a voluntary effort and began cleaning the temple by early afternoon. "I did walk around and I thought to myself, ok, this community will once again rally together. I can't drown myself in the sorrows that are here," said Beth Shalom President Michael Alcalay.
Rabbi Nancy Wechsler-Azen chose to focus on the positive ties the congregation has to the community. "We have a wonderful interfaith community here and we support each other. And so it's a reminder about how vigilant we need to be."
Beth Shalom was one of three area synagogues along with an abortion clinic attacked in June 1999 by a pair of white supremacist brothers.
Benjamin Matthew Williams and James Tyler Williams pleaded guilty to the arson attacks against Beth Shalom, B'nai Israel, Knesset Israel Torah Center and the Country Club Medical Center in September 2001. They were sentenced to 30 and 21 years behind bars, respectively.
Matthew Williams committed suicide in 2002. In 2003, Tyler Williams was sentenced to an additional 29 years to life in prison for the brothers' murders of a Happy Valley gay couple.
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