Four students were arrested on felony charges after buildings at the University of Rochester in New York were defaced with “wanted” posters targeting several Jewish faculty members, officials said.
The four students were charged with felony criminal mischief and a fifth is being investigated, Quchee Collins, the university public safety chief, said in a news release Tuesday.
Their names have not been released.
“I am incredibly satisfied that through a thorough investigation we were able to identify those who are allegedly responsible and hold them accountable for the deliberate and deplorable actions targeted toward members of our University community, including members of our Jewish population,” Collins said.
University President Sarah Mangelsdorf said she was “saddened” that members of the school community were harassed and intimated.
“The posters identifying faculty, staff, and board members have instilled credible fear among those depicted, their families, and other members of our Jewish community,” Mangelsdorf said in a message to the community. “On behalf of my senior leadership team, the Board of Trustees, and myself, I want to underscore that antisemitism will not be tolerated. I want each of those who were targeted to know that they have our wholehearted support.”
The university Department of Public Safety was made aware of the posters last week and immediately began removing them. Collins had said that taking down the posters was challenging because they had a strong adhesive that was causing “damage to walls, floors, chalkboards, and other surfaces.”
They were found in buildings across campus, including classrooms.
The posters named certain university staff members and professors for alleged war crimes related to the conflict in Gaza, NBC affiliate WHEC of Rochester reported.
Collins said the incident does not “meet the legal threshold for being a hate crime” but that could change “over the course of the legal proceedings.”
