CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Mayor Lightfoot said the entire city must stand united against hate after vandalism and anti-Semitic graffiti occurred over the weekend on the North Side.
A week after the Chicago City Council observed Holocaust Remembrance Day, Mayor Lightfoot said it is troubling to see the evidence that hate and anti-Semitism are alive in Chicago.
She said she was deeply upset to learn that a local synagogue, school, and some businesses were vandalized over the weekend - some with symbols of hate and anti-Semitism, including swastikas.
"Make no mistake: this attack, as well as the deep hatred and bigotry that drives other anti-Semitic acts like it, is an attack on our city's Jewish community and social fabric. Those responsible must be held accountable," Lightfoot said in a statement. "As Chicagoans and as Americans, it is our responsibility to call hate speech and acts out and protect our Jewish brothers and sisters who endure this hatred year after year. Without our determined and collective action, anti-Semitism will continue to thrive. That's why we must renew our commitment to building a community built with love and purpose and excise the bigots that cause and benefit from hate."
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Mayor Lightfoot said the crimes are part of a troubling rise in anti-Semitism occurring in this city and across the country.
"We need to stamp out hate wherever it rears its ugly head. And as I've said in my remarks at City Council, I am a black female lesbian. And I know when they are coming after my brothers and sisters in the Jewish community, they have a list and I am also on it," Lightfoot said.
"We have to stand united wherever we see hate, wherever we see anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, racism, sexism; wherever it is, people of goodwill cannot turn a blind eye and just think 'well, it's not me.' It is you. It is me. It is all of us."
The Mayor it touches all of us.
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