Someone painted a swastika in a boys’ bathroom on Torrey Pines High School’s campus this week, school officials said, just days after a gruesome attack on Israel by Hamas launched a new war.
The hate incident is identical to one that the school saw more than a year ago, when two swastikas were graffitied on the walls of a boys’ bathroom at the school in December 2021.
“It is with deep sadness that I share with you that there was a hate crime incident on our campus today,” the school administration wrote in a letter to families Wednesday. “We will follow up with the full power of our authority … we do not tolerate antisemitism, hate crimes, or hate speech of any kind.”
A spokesperson for the San Dieguito Union High School District, which includes Torrey Pines High, declined to provide more details about the incident, saying it’s an active investigation.
Students, parents and community groups have raised concerns about antisemitism and other incidents on San Dieguito campuses, which have seen a number of hate incidents in recent years.
In at least three separate incidents during the 2021-22 school year, racial and anti-gay slurs were painted on San Dieguito Academy’s campus, and swastikas were painted in a boys’ bathroom on Torrey Pines’ campus.
And in the fall of last year, many raised concerns about a photo of Adolf Hitler that a teacher had posted in their seventh-grade classroom at Carmel Valley Middle.
Antisemitic incidents including vandalism, assault and harassment have risen sharply nationwide since the onset of the pandemic, according to the Anti-Defamation League’s annual audit of antisemitic incidents. Last year there were 3,697 such incidents, the highest the ADL has ever recorded, up from 2,717 the year before. About 520 of those incidents were recorded in California.
Torrey Pines administrators said students, staff, parents and community members can anonymously report suspicious or illegal activities including bullying and drugs by calling 1-800-78-CRIME or visiting wetip.com.