Leaders Condemn Boston Holocaust Memorial Vandalizing

BOSTON, MA – Police arrested a 21-year-old Roxbury man in connection with the destruction of part of The New England Holocaust Memorial near Faneuil Hall. He was arraigned shortly after for purposely shattering a pane of glass, the Suffolk County DA's Office said.

James Isaac was arraigned on charges of malicious destruction of property over $250 and willful damage to a church, synagogue, or memorial. His bail was set at $750, but his bail in an unrelated assault and battery case pending in Chelsea District Court was revoked.

Several local officials and leaders denounced Wednesday the destruction of part of The New England Holocaust Memorial near Faneuil Hall following the news that the memorial had possibly been vandalized.

"As a city we stand with the Jewish community," Boston Mayor Martin Walsh said at the memorial, where officials gathered to denounce the vandalism.

"When we hear the sound of broken glass, we shudder," said Barry Shrage, president and CEO of Combined Jewish Philanthropies, referring to Kristallnacht, a wave of anti-Jewish violence in Germany in 1938.

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Assistant District Attorney Anthony Rizzo said Isaac was involved in a verbal fight with a group of people on Union Street shortly before 2 a.m. The group had not offered Isaac the time when he asked, Rizzo said. A witness then saw a man, alleged to be Isaac, pick up an object and throw it at the memorial, shattering one of the glass panels. The witness contacted Boston police.

A little while later Isaac was arrested near Congress Street where he and a woman were stopped by police after he allegedly followed the people who had earlier refused to let him know what time it was.

Police said Isaac was positively identified by the witness.

Isaac was already wearing a GPS monitoring device when he was arrested as a condition of his release in the separate Chelsea case. Isaac returns to Boston Municipal Court on July 18.

The Massachusetts chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations denounced the vandalism.

"Desecration of a religious memorial is always heartbreaking and must be condemned," chapter Executive Director John Robbins said in a statement.

The 92-year-old Holocaust survivor who played a key role in building the memorial, Israel Arbeiter, also had something to say about the incident.

"The Jewish people are strong," he said as he showed the tattoo he received from his time in a Nazi concentration camp at the gathering. Then he added: "The city of Boston is strong."

Reporting from the AP was used in this report

Photo: CyberXRef (Own work) [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons