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Swastikas, Trump and KKK Scrawled in Building in Jewish Enclave, Police Say

By Gwynne Hogan | November 22, 2016 1:13pm | Updated on November 22, 2016 3:40pm
 The graffiti was discovered inside Independence Towers in South Williamsburg on Friday, police said.
Swastika Independence Houses
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WILLIAMSBURG — Anti-Semitic graffiti was discovered scrawled in multiple towers of a public housing development in the heart of Williamsburg's Orthodox Jewish enclave, police said.

The vandalism included "KKK," "Trump" and several swastikas inside the Independence Towers development in South Williamsburg. A picture of the Twin Towers with a plane and the slogan "Bush blew up the World Trade Center" was also found, the NYPD said.

A resident called 911 on Friday morning. Police are investigating it as a hate crime, though nobody had been arrested as of Tuesday, officials said.

Police confirmed they found the vandalism in multiple stairwells on multiple floors inside 85 Taylor Street and 99 Wilson Street.

 The graffiti was discovered inside Independence Towers in South Williamsburg on Friday, police said. 
The graffiti was discovered inside Independence Towers in South Williamsburg on Friday, police said. 
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DNAinfo/Gwynne Hogan

Marcos Masri, a long-time resident of 75 Wilson Street, a third tower in the development, provided DNAinfo with pictures of swastika tags he saw there Friday, though police couldn't immediately confirm that.

"I never saw that before in my lifetime," Masri said, adding "I grew up in this building."

Though police did have a record of swastikas drawn there on Nov. 5.

The vandalism was first reported by JPUpdates.

"Such messages are extremely painful and when dismissed and ignored, it can escalate into physical attacks, God forbid," said Rabbi David Niederman, President of United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg and North Brooklyn, an umbrella coalition of all the Jewish religious sects in the area.

Since Donald Trump's election on Nov. 8, swastikas have been spotted in Crown Heights,inside dorms at the New School and alongside the words "Go Trump" in Adam Yauch Park in Brooklyn Heights.

Drawing the symbol can result in a felony charge of aggravated harassment.

Last week the state announced a special task force to investigate hate crimes. In New York City alone, hate crimes jumped 30 percent this year, officials said.