Chattanooga police investigate swastika spate in Tennessee

The Jewish Federation of Greater Chattanooga said in a statement that it was “disturbed and saddened by the incident.”

By Algemeiner Staff

A bridge in Chattanooga, Tennessee, has been defaced with swastikas, prompting a police investigation and condemnation from the city’s mayor.

NBC affiliate Channel 3 reported that the graffiti was found on the Walnut Street Bridge and in the Bluff View Art District.

A Chattanooga Police Department spokesman, Jeremy Eames, said that the incident was under investigation, with security camera footage being examined.

He added that the possibility of hate‐crimes charges against the perpetrators was impossible to determine at this stage.

Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke said in a statement on Sunday, “Early this morning, I learned that the Walnut Street Bridge and portions of the Bluff View Art District, two of our city’s most beloved and beautiful public spaces, had been defaced with swastikas.”

“The Chattanooga Police Department is investigating and I have every confidence that the vandals will be identified and brought to justice soon,” he added.

“While we do not know the intent of those who perpetrated this act, we know that the end result is residents feeling less comfortable in their home,” the mayor noted. “Our city is resolved, as it always has been, to condemn anyone who seeks to intimidate, discriminate, or foment violence against any ethnic or religious group.”

The Jewish Federation of Greater Chattanooga said in a statement that it was “disturbed and saddened by the incident.”

“As a united Chattanooga Jewish community, we stand against all forms of hate,” it declared. “As a faith community, as good citizens and as Americans, we condemn this act of anti-Semitism in the strongest of terms. Hate against one is hate against all.”