BUZZ
Police believe the same individual is responsible for both incidents
Police are asking the public for help identifying an individual suspected of vandalizing the Michigan State University Chabad Jewish Center twice last week during Hanukkah.
Several windows were broken and “swastika graffiti” was spraypainted on the door, according to a series of Facebook posts from the center’s leaders, Rabbi Bentzy Shemtov and his wife, Simi.
“This is deeply upsetting — but it does not define us, and it will not deter us. We are guided by the message of Chanukah: when darkness increases, so must light. Retreat has never been the Jewish response,” the Chabad leaders wrote.
The City of East Lansing confirmed on Facebook that its police are seeking help identifying the individual who is believed to be responsible for both incidents.
The incidents are being considered potential hate crimes, according to the city.
“Video evidence shows the same subject vandalizing” the Chabad building on Dec. 16 and again Dec. 18, according to city officials. The city also published two photos of the individual and asked the public to contact the East Lansing Police Department if they have information about the suspect.
In the first incident, a video shows the individual throwing rocks at the building and damaging several windows, MLive reports.
“The second incident, which occurred [Thursday] between 3:00 and 4:00 a.m., involved an individual spray painting swastikas and the words ‘he’s back’ on MSU Chabad’s front door before throwing rocks at the building’s windows,” The State News reports.
Michigan State University President Kevin Guskiewicz condemned the “antisemitic vandalism” in a statement Thursday.
Guskiewicz said no one was physically harmed, but the crime still damaged the university community.
“Acts such as these reverberate far beyond physical damage, especially for members of the Jewish community who continue to live with the heightened reality of antisemitism,” he stated.
Antisemitism continues to be a problem on college campuses across the country, according to a recent report by a pro-Israel watchdog organization.
StopAntisemitism’s 2025 “report card,” which reviewed 90 colleges and universities, found 58 percent of Jewish students reported personally experiencing antisemitism on campus and 39 percent hid their Jewish identity, The College Fix reported.
The report gave Michigan State a “B” this year for enforcing “consequences, including arrests, to protect Jewish students” in response to antisemitic vandalism and related incidents.
MORE: MSU’s top-ranked College of Education accused of anti-white indoctrination
