San Diego police are on the lookout for the person responsible. Both victims have recordings of the suspect. NBC 7’s Dave Summers reports.
Two places of worship in Bankers Hill were tagged with hate speech early Thursday morning. That's twice in almost two weeks.
San Diego police are on the lookout for the person responsible. Both victims have recordings of the suspect on security cameras.
The tags are hurtful. On the church were spray-painted upside-down crosses and vulgar phrases with God and Christ in them. On the synagogue, Lebanon and Gaza were spray painted.
"Both times that the person came, this is the spot they painted on,” said Gillian Argoff-Treseder, executive director of Ohr Shalom Synagogue.
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Argoff-Treseder got a phone call at 5:30 a .m. Thursday from a San Diego police detective telling her the synagogue was again tagged.
"Just makes you really sad and really disappointed," Argoff-Treseder said. "It's not a fabulous way to start your day."
Argoff-Treseder photographed the walls, then quickly had them covered with a fresh coat of paint. This is the second time tagged in nearly two weeks for Ohr Shalom. It's situated at the corner of Laurel Street and Third Avenue.
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"I kind of feel bad for them, that they have so much hate in their heart, that they have nothing better to do than to deface public buildings," Argoff-Treseder said.
St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral is about a third of a mile and a straight shot down Maple Street from the synagogue. This church was also tagged with hate messages early Thursday morning. They are covered up by tape and paper. It’s the second time in just about as many weeks.
The church shared photos of the tags from January sprayed on several cathedral walls. All of them in the same paint color, same wall height and in plain site, which might indicate a single tagger. Thursday morning’s second round used the same hateful language.
"Our video shows that it is the same person that is doing this," Argoff-Treseder said.
San Diego police are sharing few details about the crimes — only that the Criminal Intelligence Hate Crimes Unit is investigating.
“The San Diego Police Department understands the significant impact these crimes have on the community, and we are committed to doing everything possible to hold the individual(s) who committed these crimes accountable," SDPD Lt. Dan Meyer said.
Argoff-Treseder says the response from the neighborhood is overwhelming. They were bombarded with people asking how they could help.
"We hope that this will, at the end, bring out more people showing love than more people showing hate,“ Argoff-Treseder said.
Despite the threatening language used, services and programs at each house of worship will continue as scheduled.
