A recent graduate of New York University has been arrested after allegedly placing a banner featuring swastikas and a Star of David on top of a university building during commencement celebrations, authorities announced Wednesday.

According to law enforcement officials, the 23-year-old suspect has been charged with criminal trespass as a hate crime, as well as burglary and aggravated harassment. Investigators say he climbed onto a campus building near West 4th Street and Greene Street in Greenwich Village and displayed the banner at approximately 5 p.m. on May 13.

Police said the banner was designed to resemble the Israeli flag and contained two swastikas, a Star of David, and the university’s logo. The student newspaper Washington Square News reported that the banner was hung from the Steinhardt building, home to NYU’s education programs and named after Jewish philanthropists Judy and Michael Steinhardt.

University officials subsequently filed a hate-crime complaint with law enforcement, prompting a formal investigation.

Authorities arrested the suspect Tuesday after reviewing surveillance footage that allegedly showed him inside the building and later on the roof around the time the banner appeared. According to court documents, investigators determined that he used his own NYU electronic access credentials to enter the facility.

A source familiar with the investigation said the suspect admitted during questioning that he created and displayed the banner because some students were concerned about the university’s positions regarding Israel.

Because the charges do not qualify for bail under current New York law, the suspect was released following a brief appearance in Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday evening.

In a statement, the university thanked investigators for their efforts in identifying the individual responsible.

The university expressed its appreciation for the police department’s “exhaustive work and for the efforts of the Manhattan District Attorney in identifying the person responsible for this heinous crime.”

“The symbols that were represented are antisemitic and hateful to every person of conscience; this appalling act violated our sense of community and solidarity,” Wiley Norvell, NYU senior vice president for university relations and public affairs said, as quoted by the New York Daily News. “In addition to criminal proceedings, we will immediately pursue our disciplinary procedures, which carry the most severe consequences.”

The arrest comes amid a continuing rise in antisemitic incidents reported on college campuses across the United States since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza.

New York University has been among the institutions facing scrutiny over campus antisemitism. In July 2024, the university reached a settlement in a lawsuit brought by Jewish students who alleged that the school had failed to adequately address antisemitic conduct on campus.

{Matzav.com}