Anti-Semitism remains a matter of concern in the state of New Jersey, as the public was reminded this week.
A group of teenagers in the town of Jackson tweeted messages suggesting violence against Jews and posted pictures of themselves with Nazi imagery.
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One of the teens, the daughter of a sergeant in the state police, posted a picture of herself dressed like Hitler and tweeted a picture of an Orthodox Jewish gathering spot along with the caption “perfect bombing time”.
The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office examined the Twitter post and a cache of other pro-Hitler images by the teenagers and concluded that although they may have been offensive they did not amount to any credible threat, the Asbury Park Press said.
“There was never any danger being posed to the community, ” said Al Della Fave, a spokesman for the office. “It didn’t rise to anything criminal.” He added that the girl’s connection to law enforcement afforded her no special treatment, even as police remain on heightened alert for terrorism and threats conveyed through social media.
“Everything was evaluated at face value. We have been assured by the families and the school that this is something that will be handled.”
Avi Schnall, New Jersey director of Agudath Israel, an advocacy organization for the Orthodox community, supported the decision not to file charges, but said there was little solace in that. “We could comfort ourselves and say that these are just immature teenagers fooling around, ” said Schnall, who lives in Lakewood, “but when Hitler becomes another costume that teenagers dress up in, and bombing a group of Jews becomes humorous, that tells us something is very wrong with our society.”
Jackson borders Lakewood, where the Orthodox community is rapidly growing. Members of Lakewood’s Orthodox community are routinely subjected to harassment — people shout slurs, throw objects or make threats, Schnall said. He said his community is moving toward strengthening security systems at schools and places of worship as a defensive measure.
In one of the posted images, a girl dons what appears to be a State Police hat along with a swastika and a Hitler-style mustache while giving the Nazi salute. The image includes the caption: “1944: crematorium crew.”
Another picture is a selfie of a teen dressed like Hitler, with a caption that reads: “Just glad I’m not Anne frank.”
In another tweet, a person wrote, “I really wanna drive around Lakewood and run over every Jew with my car.”
The images were discovered online by a person who uses the Twitter handle @MaleiRikud. The person frequently reposts tweets related to Lakewood that he or she deems anti-Semitic. The person said through Twitter that the images are reposted to help spread awareness of such bias.
Hershel Herskowitz, a Lakewood merchant whose parents survived the Holocaust, said it is important to comment publicly on the images, the report said.. “There is a difference between freedom of speech and posting a picture of children and talking about bombs, ” Herskowitz said. “This is not acceptable. This is not funny.”
