Antisemitic graffiti found on Montgomery Co. school, police release surveillance pictures

Montgomery County police are searching for three people of interest connected to the spray-painting of antisemitic graffiti on Greenwood Elementary School near Brookeville, Maryland.

According to police, the vandalism occurred around 3 a.m. Saturday, and three individuals were seen leaving the school, at 3336 Gold Mine Road, around that time.

The graffiti was spray-painted on a wall and the side of the school building’s roof, police said.

It comes amid a spate of similar hateful incidents in the county targeting the Jewish community, according to Guila Franklin Siegel, chief operating officer at the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington.

Siegel told WTOP’s Kyle Cooper her agency has seen an uptick in reported incidents “beginning in January, but really accelerating after the outbreak of the U.S.-Israel war with Iran.”

“The reasons for this skyrocketing of antisemitism are manyfold,” Siegel said, adding that American politics have fostered “a culture and an environment where hatred can be more freely expressed and where groups are pitted against one another, and there is targeting of minority populations.”

images of suspected caught on surveillance camera — Montgomery County police released images of three persons of interest in a case where antisemitic graffiti was discovered at Greenwood Elementary School. (Courtesy Montgomery County police)

“I think schools are a place where culture wars are often played out. I think we are dealing with a younger population that lives its life online, so they’re much more susceptible to those messages of hatred. And they know when they are targeting schools that it’s going to get a lot of attention,” she added.

Police are asking for the public’s help in identifying the individuals seen in surveillance photos.

“Such hate has no place in our schools or our state, especially as we begin Jewish American Heritage Month,” Gov. Wes Moore wrote in a post on social media. “Our administration is working closely with local authorities to combat this hate and stomp out antisemitism in all its forms.”

Police are also asking anyone with information to submit a tip online or call 1-866-411-8477. Tips with information that leads to an arrest may be eligible for a reward up to $10,000 and tipsters can remain anonymous.