The fence outside ex-Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Michigan vacation home was spray-painted with the word “Nazis” last week.
Emanuel, who is Jewish, was in Chicago at the time. In a text message to the Chicago Sun-Times, Emanuel wrote, “Our family is very proud of how our friends, neighbors and the community have rallied to our support and in a singular voice in condemning hatred and bigotry.”
He also thanked police for addressing the incident amid a sharp increase in antisemitism and Islamophobia. ABC7 Chicago reported that the writing has been removed.
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The Chicago newspaper reported that the head of a homeowners organization in Gordon Beach, Michigan, notified residents on Friday of “a hate crime… where an anti-Semitic word was spray painted on a property.” The letter also said that local law enforcement from Berrien County “confirmed there was no other damage to the property and no sign of breaking or entering.”
David Goldenberg, the Midwest regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, a civil rights advocacy group combating antisemitism, told the Sun-Times, “Hate crimes affect not only the victim, but an entire community. Thus, we appreciate the homeowners association naming this an act of antisemitism and urge law enforcement to investigate this as a hate crime.”
Spokespeople from the Berrien County Sheriff’s Office or the Gordon Beach Homeowners Association did not respond to a request for comment on Monday from the New York Post.
Emanuel served as former President Barack Obama’s chief of staff from 2009 to 2010. He was then Chicago’s mayor from 2011 to 2019, and faced criticism over his handling of the 2014 police murder of Laquan McDonald.
He now works as U.S. ambassador to Japan.
