Ohio State’s Hillel building, a center for Jewish students, is off of East 16th Avenue. Naomi Lamb, the center’s CEO, reported a vandalism in a statement on Thursday. Credit: Lantern File Photo
Two females entered Ohio State’s Hillel building — a center for Jewish students off of East 16th Avenue — Thursday, according to a Columbus police report.
Ohio State Hillel’s posted a statement from its CEO, Naomi Lamb, Thursday evening stating that students took photos, “vandaliz[ed] Israeli flags” and shouted “anti-Israel statements.” According to the police report, one of the females picked up small Israeli flags and dropped them before running out to a car.
The females were let into the building by the front desk, according to the report, and when one started picking up the flags, she was confronted by staff. As she ran out to the car, she yelled “f*ck you,” “you support genocide” and “free Palestine.”
In the statement, Lamb said Ohio State police were given security camera footage of those who entered the building.
“The safety of our students and staff is our highest priority — first, foremost, and always,” the post said. “We appreciate law enforcement’s quick response and stand ready to assist in the investigation in any way.”
In addition to asking for information about the vandalism, the center asked acting university President Peter Mohler and university administration to make a statement. Friday morning, Mohler sent out a statement addressing the incident and said Ohio State will assist in Columbus police’s investigation.
“I want to be direct and clear — the university has no tolerance for acts of hatred or violence. Antisemitism is despicable and has no place in our community,” Mohler said in the statement. “The university will pursue all action possible against anyone committing hate crimes on or near our campus.”
This follows a month since Israel declared war after Hamas, the militant group that governs Gaza, attacked Israel on Oct. 7, raising concerns about rising rates of antisemitism in the United States.
In a statement on Tuesday to the university community, Mohler addressed these concerns and an incident in which a student said they were spat on while standing next to a sorority selling “I stand with Israel” bracelets on the Oval.
The incident occurred on Oct. 18 and has since been designated as a hate crime by university police. According to the report made by the student, the victim is not interested in starting an investigation but wanted to bring it to the university’s attention.
“This type of behavior is absolutely unacceptable,” Mohler said in the statement. “To be clear, we will not tolerate any such behaviors on our campuses.”
