‘Sieg Heil’ swastikas and and racist pro-Trump graffiti was reported on store fronts, cars, and homes in Philadelphia on Wednesday, hours after Donald Trump defeated his democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.
November 9th was also the 78th anniversary of the Kristallnacht pogrom against German Jews, when in 1938 Nazis torched a thousand synagogues, vandalized tens of thousands of Jewish homes, schools and businesses and killed up to 100 Jews in two days. According to reports there have been multiple incidents of Nazi inspired vandalism across South Philadelphia after Trump became president elect.
Haaretz reports:
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We are horrified by the swastika and “Seig Heil 2016” graffiti found in South Philly this morning. Our statement: https://t.co/OqVhYvowVm pic.twitter.com/mAbCkdb3PI
— ADL Philadelphia (@ADLPhiladelphia) 9 November 2016
Incidentally, the attacks came precisely 78 years after Kristallnacht, the Night of the Broken Glass, that marked the beginning of Hitler’s persecution of the Jews in the Holocaust.
The graffiti, first reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer, was spray painted on a glass storefront and replaced the first letter in “Trump” with a swastika in one place, while reading “Seig Heil 2016” in another.
A police spokeswoman told a the Inquirer that officers were called to the 1300 block of South Broad at 10:40 A.M. after receiving a call reporting the graffiti.
The Anti-Defamation League released a statement condemning the vandalism as horrifying, and saying that “Swastikas and the Nazi salute send a message of intolerance and hate to the entire community. The fact that today is the 78th anniversary of Kristallnacht adds another layer to this already sickening act.”
#TrumpsAmerica “Trump Black Bitch” pic.twitter.com/gszSwlxx2A
— Anthony (@Anthony19145) 9 November 2016
More racist graffiti was discovered in the city, with one Twitter user posting a photo of a white SUV spray painted with the words “Black Bitch” and “Trump Rules.”
The vehicle was seen at a local body shop. An employee told the Inquirer that the car had been brought in on Wednesday morning by a customer described as shaken.
Police told the Inquirer that officers had responded to multiple vandalism reports on cars and houses, including that at the auto body shop.
A view from 6th and Carpenter in South Philadelphia. @PhillyInquirer pic.twitter.com/9NNa8sda2m
— Michael Matza (@MichaelMatza1) 9 November 2016
In one more vandalism incident, a Twitter user uploaded a photo on the corner of 6th and Carpenter showing the words “Trump rules” spray painted onto a wall.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney responded to the incidents in a statement Wednesday, saying that they “must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. In the wake of the election, Philadelphians must work tirelessly to bridge the divides that have plagued this nation for decades.”
