The Metropolitan Police Department and Metro Transit Police Department arrested a person found hanging anti-Semitic posters near American University’s campus early Monday morning, Fanta Aw, vice president of campus life and inclusive excellence, said in a memo released Monday.
The posters depicted an anti-gun control message, coupled with a picture of Adolf Hitler and a gun control advocate from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Aw wrote. Holocaust Remembrance Day, known in Hebrew as Yom Hashoah, begins Wednesday night. Jewish student organizations, including Hillel, are leading activities throughout the week to honor victims of the Holocaust.
Five of the 17 people killed in the Parkland shooting were Jewish, as are some of the leaders of the #NeverAgain movement, a grassroots gun-reform initiative spearheaded by Parkland students.
“Particularly given that these posters were found during a week in which we remember those who were lost in the Holocaust, we understand how hurtful and deeply offensive this can be to our Jewish community and to all who mourn in solidarity with them,” Aw wrote.
AUPD stopped and questioned the suspect early Monday morning for hanging posters on Metro bus shelters and public utilities, Aw said. After questioning the individual, AUPD notified MPD and MTPD, who arrived on the scene and arrested the individual for defacing public property, Aw wrote.
The arrest was made around 3:17 a.m. near the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center and the President’s Office Building, according to a MPD police report obtained by The Eagle. The report did not name the individual arrested, and Aw said the person is not affiliated with the University.
The flyers were posted on a ground power transformer with an adhesive material that “if removed would cause the object to be disfigured,” according to the police report.
