Swastika Graffiti Blamed on 2 Jewish Youths

Jewish groups expressed sadness and law enforcement officials acknowledged puzzlement Monday over two Jewish teenagers arrested for allegedly defacing the walls of a Calabasas school with swastikas and white-power slogans.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy J.T. Manwell said the boys, who told authorities they were Jewish and confessed to the crime, said they “thought it would be funny and get a rise out of the community. . . . They knew it would upset people.”

They were right.

Said Aaron Levinson, director of the Valley Anti-Defamation League: “It’s sad. As Jews, they don’t realize the harm they’ve caused. They don’t realize this causes emotional pain.”

Barbara Creme, director of family development at the San Fernando Valley chapter of the Jewish Federation, called the boys “clearly troubled young men” and offered to help them fight hatred.

“It’s a frightening kind of message, especially for young kids,” Creme said.

Sheriff’s officials, who said they would ask the district attorney’s office to file felony vandalism and misdemeanor hate-crime charges against the 16-year-olds in Juvenile Court, said neither has a criminal record.

Las Virgenes School District security officials reported the crime Saturday, and the boys, whose identities were not disclosed because of their age, were arrested late Sunday.

They were released to the custody of their parents Monday afternoon, Manwell said.

Manwell said that because Juvenile Court rules are flexible, the boys’ sentences could vary greatly if they are found guilty. An adult convicted of the same charges would face up to one year in county jail, he said. But in Juvenile Court “the judge can be as creative as he wants. It could be community service or probation.”

Administrators at Chaparral Elementary School had no comment Monday.

“The graffiti [have] been painted over as if nothing ever happened,” a clerk at the school said.