New Brunswick, NJ – Four teenagers have been arrested in connection with the damage done to nearly 500 headstones at the Jewish cemetery, a rabbi from one of the two synagogues that uses the cemetery said.
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Rabbi David Bassous of Congregation Etz Ahaim in Highland Park said he met with officials from Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan's office and was told the juveniles, ages 15 to 17, had been arrested for causing the damage at Poile Zedek cemetery.
Bassous, however, said he does not know if investigators determined the motive behind the incident, which authorities are treating as a bias crime. The prosecutor's office is expected to issue a statement later today.
On Sunday gravediggers found 499 headstones in ruins. The cemetery, on Joyce Kilmer Avenue, is used by Congregation Etz Ahaim and Congregation Poile Zedek in New Brunswick.
Yesterday, rabbis from the two synagogues announced that a private donor offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to arrests for the damage. [nj.com]
Although I would be surprised if this were not a hate crime, grave desecration is not unheard of in xian memorial parks.
before we determine if this is a hate crime or just a bunch a teen vandals in a random attack, let me ask, does anyone do this in X-tian cemeteries? Didn’t think so. Guess that answers the question.
The guilty perpetrators should be required to undo the damage they did – let the punishment fit the crime!
They should rot in hell, and be tried as adults