Northern Westchester Examiner Defaced with Hate Symbols
Peekskill police are investigating the defacement of a copy of this week’s Northern Westchester Examiner with swastikas and the letters KKK.
The hate symbols were discovered Wednesday at about 8 a.m. at a Chase bank branch at 1025 Brown St. in Peekskill.
The lead story of this week’s Nov. 13-Nov. 19 edition of the paper was about the election of Yorktown High School graduate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Congress.
A reader who discovered the defaced copy of the paper filed a report with Peekskill police Wednesday.
“The Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center commends the action of the citizen who, upon discovering the hate symbols on the newspaper, immediately brought it to the attention of the Peekskill Police Department to investigate,” said Millie Jasper, executive director of the Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center. “We encourage the officers to investigate this matter thoroughly, sending a clear message to the community that the Peekskill law enforcement agency does not tolerate behavior showing prejudice and bigotry.”
Examiner Media Publisher Adam Stone said the reader who discovered the defaced newspaper decided to contact police on his own. But Stone has subsequently followed up with Peekskill police to check on the status of the investigation.
“After speaking with the assigned officer, I’m confident Peekskill police are taking the matter seriously,” Stone said. “All of the anti-Semitic and racist incidents arising across the country are deeply disturbing, and it’s incredibly troubling to see the volume of incidents increase the last two years. It’s vitally important to shine a bright spotlight on all of these incidents and resist any temptation to accept them as the new norm.”
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