More Swastikas, Bigoted Slurs Reported In Montclair: Police

MONTCLAIR, NJ — More incidents involving swastikas and bigoted slurs have been reported in Montclair, police announced Tuesday.

According to the Montclair Police Department, a victim said he was verbally harassed on two separate occasions last month.

The victim said the first incident took place in early February as he was walking in the area of Glenridge Avenue, when the occupants of a four-door silver Buick yelled slurs about his sexual identity, police said.

The three occupants of the car were described as white males, possibly in their teens, police said.

The victim said another incident took place on Feb. 18 on Bloomfield Avenue, when three black males – possibly in their mid-twenties – yelled similar slurs at him, police said.

Montclair has seen other recent incidents involving verbal slurs, according to authorities.

In January, a 33-year-old Jersey City resident said she was walking on Bloomfield Avenue when a man told her to “Go back to China,” made a slur regarding her heritage and spat in her direction.

Last month, a Harrison resident was charged with harassment by communication, harassment by spitting and bias intimidation after police responded to Gates Avenue on a report of a man yelling racial slurs and spitting on a 47-year-old, African-American woman from Newark.

• See related article: 2 Women Spat At, Endure Racial Slurs In Montclair

SWASTIKAS FOUND AT MONTCLAIR HIGH SCHOOL

An employee at Montclair High School reported that they discovered two swastikas and an anti-Semitic phrase carved into a chair on Monday, police said.

The wording of the phrase was not released in an initial police statement.

Montclair has recently seen other incidents with possible anti-Semitic roots, including the "destruction" of a large menorah made of ice on Church Street meant to kick off the Hanukkah holiday last December.

• See related article: Montclair Mayor: 'Hate, Anti-Semitism Have No Place Here'

Also in December 2019, a teacher at an unspecified school on Chestnut Street reported finding drawings of swastikas on a desk, Montclair police said.

In November 2019, an employee at Montclair High School said two swastika symbols and the word "cake" were written in pencil on a table in the cafeteria, police stated.

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