Swastikas and antisemitic messages were spray-painted on Temple Beth Torah, neighboring Higher Vision church and nearby Juanamaria Park in east Ventura in recent days, authorities said.
The Ventura Police Department received a call from Higher Vision about 7:35 a.m. Sept. 6 regarding the swastikas and messages at the church and synagogue, said police Cmdr. Ryan Weeks.
After officers checked out the church, they went to the temple and found multiple racial slurs on the building, Weeks said. There were statements, including “Death to Jews” and “You Will Be Judged,” he said.
Weeks said he believes the incident could have occurred between the evening of Sept. 5 into Sept. 6.
“We are dismayed that this perpetrator both vandalized our property and the
Higher Vision church next door, our neighbors and our friends, and it’s really brought our communities together, quite frankly,” said Rabbi Lisa Hochberg-Miller of Temple Beth Torah.
Authorities received information about Juanamaria Park, a short walk from the church and synagogue, at about 3:30 p.m. Sept. 7. Officers discovered a swastika on a park sign and spray painting on a bathroom wall on the south side saying, “They want to replace you.”
Weeks said investigators are working to determine whether the incidents occurred at the same time. They don’t have any suspect information, but a detective is working on the case, he said.
This isn't the first time the synagogue has been vandalized. In January 2019, swastikas were spray-painted on the signboard in front of Temple Beth Torah, in the 7600 block of Foothill Road. Police at the time investigated the incident as a hate crime.
Hochberg-Miller said there had not been a hate crime incident at the temple since 2019.
"I’ve been with synagogue here 29 years, and we've had a very small handful of acts of graffiti and antisemitism here," she said. "This is, by and large, an incredibly supportive community, and we have always felt the love whenever we’ve had any incident. As soon as it’s public, we are just surrounded with people."
Ventura Mayor Jeannette Sánchez-Palacios and the city released a news release and statement Sept. 9 about the most recent incident.
"I am deeply disturbed by the antisemitic vandalism targeting Temple Beth Torah, Higher Vision church and Juanamaria Park, including the spray-painting of swastikas and other hateful imagery,” Sánchez-Palacios said. “Antisemitism, hate, and intimidation have no place in Ventura.”
Joshua Burt, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League Santa Barbara and Tri-Counties, said the incident was shocking.
"The anti-zionist graffiti on a church, that's a new one for me," said Burt, who attends the synagogue. "I had not seen that along the Central Coast where they have tagged a Christian church for allyship towards Israel or the Jewish people."
He said the phrase, “They want to replace you,” refers to the white supremacist great replacement theory.
The theory holds that Jews are orchestrating the replacement of white people in the United States with other minorities, he said.
"It becomes an us versus them narrative," Burt said.
Police are looking for surveillance video, witnesses or persons who have information about the vandalism to call 805-339-4416. Callers may be anonymous.
Wes Woods II covers West County for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at wesley.woodsii@vcstar.com, 805-437-0262 or @JournoWes.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Swastikas, hate messages left at Ventura synagogue, church, park
