Assemblyman Avi Schnall (D-Lakewood) today condemned the reported break-in and vandalism at the former Christa McAuliffe Middle School in Jackson, where swastikas, Nazi imagery and racist messages were discovered after individuals allegedly forced their way into the building.

The property was recently purchased by Beth Medrash Govoha, the largest yeshiva in the United States.

“A swastika painted inside a Jewish-owned building is not teenage mischief or ordinary vandalism. It is an unmistakable message of intimidation,” said Schnall. “Those responsible must be identified, prosecuted and held fully accountable.”

Assemblyman Schnall said the incident should also force a broader reckoning over the increasingly hostile political climate surrounding Orthodox Jewish residents in Jackson and neighboring communities.

“Hate does not begin with broken windows and spray paint,” Schnall said. “It begins when a community is repeatedly portrayed as a problem to be contained, a threat to be feared or an easy target for political resentment. It grows when inflammatory claims go unchallenged, when contempt is tolerated at public meetings and when elected officials discover that attacking Orthodox Jews is an effective way to win attention or applause.”

Although Jackson is outside the 30th Legislative District, Schnall said the incident carries consequences far beyond municipal boundaries.

“The individuals who entered that building are responsible for their actions. But elected officials are responsible for the climate they help create,” he said. “Politicians cannot spend months feeding suspicion of a religious community—or quietly benefiting from it—and then wash their hands of the consequences when that hostility turns dangerous.”

“A condemnation issued after a swastika appears is hollow if the same leaders remain silent while an entire community is demeaned day after day,” Schnall continued. “Leadership requires confronting hatred before it becomes vandalism and before vandalism.”

“This incident must be a turning point,” Schnall said. “Every elected official should ask whether their words are lowering the temperature or raising it. The public should expect more from those entrusted with authority. Words carry weight, silence sends a message, and neither is without consequence.”