Two crimes that occurred in the off-campus area in the past 24 hours against Jewish students are currently being investigated by the Columbus police. Credit: Lantern File Photo
Columbus police are currently investigating two recent crimes that occurred in the off-campus area in the past 24 hours — an act of vandalism at Ohio State’s Hillel Jewish student center off East 16th Avenue and the assault of two students near 15th Avenue and High Street.
Interim university President Peter Mohler released a statement Friday regarding the two incidents, saying the university has “no tolerance for acts of hatred or violence.”
On Thursday, two females were let into the Hillel building by the front desk and started picking up Israeli flags and yelling “f*ck you,” “you support genocide” and “free Palestine,” according to a Columbus Police report.
A second crime occurred Friday morning concerning two students who were approached by two male suspects near 1840 N. High St., who then yelled derogatory terms at the students and assaulted them while asking if they were Jewish, according to a public safety notice issued by the Department of Public Safety.
One of the victims was treated at the Wexner Medical Center before being released, according to the notice. The crime has since been categorized by the university as a hate crime.
According to the Clery Act, a hate crime is a “criminal offense that manifests evidence based on sufficient objective facts that the victim was intentionally selected because of the perpetrator’s bias against the victim,” with categories of bias under race, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and disability, according to Ohio State’s safety notice.
Mohler said Ohio State is working with Columbus police and other law enforcement partners to increase security presence off campus, as well as continuing to adjust security resources and security presence on campus.
“As I said in my community message on Monday, I understand people are hurting during this difficult time. I want to reiterate in the strongest way possible: Ohio State will not tolerate violations of the law or university policy,” Mohler’s statement said. “This includes but is not limited to antisemitism, bigotry, Islamophobia, racism, sexism and violence. We have not and will not tolerate hatred, intimidation or harassment of anyone based on their religious beliefs, nationality or identity.”
At this time, the university is unsure if Ohio State students were responsible for either incident, according to the public safety notice.
“When the perpetrators are identified, Ohio State will take every measure available under the law and university policy,” Mohler’s statement said.
