{"id":311494,"date":"2026-08-01T14:01:36","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T14:01:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/311494\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T14:01:36","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T14:01:36","slug":"dont-want-whats-happening-in-nyc-to-come-here-la-county-official-says-at-event-on-synagogue-vandalism-israel-jewish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/311494\/","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t want \u2018what\u2019s happening in NYC to come here,\u2019 LA county official says at event on synagogue vandalism – Israel & Jewish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

(July 31, 2026 \/ JNS)\n <\/p>\n

Kathryn Barger, a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, doesn\u2019t like the way New York City is handling Jew-hatred, and she hopes that the City of Angels doesn\u2019t follow the Big Apple\u2019s lead.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel as though the rhetoric by many that are elected has stirred the pot and almost empowered individuals to do what\u2019s being done,\u201d she told JNS. \u201cYou see it in New York City, and I don\u2019t want what\u2019s happening in New York City to come here, so I\u2019m going to stand tall with the Jewish community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barger spoke to JNS at a community solidarity event at the site of the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center, a Conservative synagogue that was destroyed in the Eaton Fire in January 2025. Some 200 people attended the event on Thursday, and Barger was one of the speakers.<\/p>\n

A mural at the site was vandalized<\/a> with Nazi swastikas and the words \u201cZionism is not welcome\u201d on July 24. The county sheriff\u2019s department told JNS that it is investigating the incident as a hate crime.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter where it happens, the impact it has on the community is chilling,\u201d Barger told JNS, of anti-Jewish hate crimes.<\/p>\n

Synagogues being forced to hire security to host services \u201cis not America,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is not a civil society.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Kathryn<\/p>\n

Kathryn Barger, a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, speaks at a community solidarity event at the site of the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center campus in Pasadena, Calif., on July 30, 2026. Photo by Aaron Bandler.<\/p>\n

The county board upon which she sits \u201ccan send the message that we\u2019re not going to tolerate it,\u201d Barger said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have to bring in motions boycotting Jewish businesses or propagating antisemitism. When the pension programs are being pushed to pull out of any stocks that are part of any sort of Israeli business, are you kidding me?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have not done that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The graffiti has been completely removed from the mural. In January, the same wall, which now contains the mural, was vandalized with graffiti that stated \u201cF**k Zionism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barger introduced a motion<\/a> on Tuesday offering $20,000 for information about the vandal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to make sure the person responsible is found, because I think it\u2019s important to send a message. We\u2019re not going to tolerate hate,\u201d she told JNS. \u201cToday, it\u2019s the Jewish temple. What\u2019s it going to be tomorrow?\u201d<\/p>\n

Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.), who spoke at the event, told JNS that she \u201cgasped\u201d when she saw the destruction at the synagogue shortly after it was burnt in the fire, and she again gasped when she heard that the mural was vandalized.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat an ugly thing to do in such a devastating situation,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have to do everything that we can to coalesce and to come together as a community of different backgrounds and support one another.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the things that Congress can do to combat antisemitic hate crimes is pass the Countering Antisemitism Act, according to Chu, who said that it would \u201cestablish a national coordinator to counter antisemitism and strengthen our federal response to this hatred.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Judy<\/p>\n

Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) speaks at a community solidarity event at the site of the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center campus in Pasadena, Calif., on July 30, 2026. Photo by Aaron Bandler.<\/p>\n

Victor Gordo, mayor of Pasadena, spoke at the event. \u201cIn those moments, it\u2019s not just important to say it but for people to see and visualize their community\u2019s leadership,\u201d he told JNS. \u201cI hope it was a powerful moment. It was intended to be a moment to unify us all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gordo got angry when he learned about the vandalism.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s simply no place for hate in our community or anywhere else in the world,\u201d he told JNS. \u201cTo have it happen here, in our community, is something we should all reject.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe tenor in the world, and even in our own country, at the federal level, has caused a few individuals to cowardly take acts like this, not just in this community, but throughout, as we\u2019ve seen, the country and the world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore reason for us to stand together and reject this type of hate directed at anyone,\u201d Gordo told JNS.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Pasadena<\/p>\n

Pasadena Mayor Victor Gordo speaks at a community solidarity event at the site of the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center campus in Pasadena, Calif., on July 30, 2026. Photo by Aaron Bandler.<\/p>\n

Captain Ethan Marquez, commander of the Los Angeles County Sheriff\u2019s Department Altadena Station, said at the event that \u201cif this crime is determined to be motivated by hate, we will pursue every appropriate criminal charge.\u201d<\/p>\n

That prompted some in the crowd to yell \u201cIf? If?\u201d repeatedly.<\/p>\n

JNS asked if he had a response to the hecklers. \u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate, because we cannot draw personal conclusions until all the evidence has presented itself, and that\u2019s just the nature of any kind of investigation,\u201d he said. \u201cWe still live in a country that everybody\u2019s innocent until proven guilty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marquez told JNS that \u201cbased on the nature of the graffiti, it appears to be a hate crime, but we have to be objective, and we have to let the evidence speak for itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

JNS asked if there is a connection between the July 24 vandalism and the January vandalism. \u201cWe can all draw conclusions, but until we have some definite evidence, we have to treat them as separate crimes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re hunting down the leads that we have. It\u2019s an ongoing investigation,\u201d he told JNS. \u201cRight now, we\u2019re just putting all the resources we can into it, and we\u2019ll let the evidence take it where it goes.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Pasadena<\/p>\n

Captain Eddie Marquez, who commands the Los Angeles County Sheriff\u2019s Department Altadena Station, spoke at a community solidarity event at the site of the Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center campus in Pasadena, Calif., on July 30, 2026. Photo by Aaron Bandler.<\/p>\n

Caleb Yellin and Audrey Farahnik, both congregants at Wilshire Boulevard Temple, a Reform synagogue in Los Angeles, spoke at the event.<\/p>\n

The two high school students are the co-founders of the Sparks of Kindness Youth Fund, which supports young people affected by the Eaton and Palisades fires. The fund organized the mural project after the vandalism in January.<\/p>\n

After the event, JNS saw a muralist kneeling on the ground, painting an olive branch on the mural.<\/p>\n

Yellin told JNS that the branch represents the \u201ccommunity coming together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou saw we had preachers here,\u201d he said. \u201cWe had Jews, Christians, rabbis, and we also had Muslims. We had everyone coming together.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s \u201cshowing that the whole community is united against hate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(July 31, 2026 \/ JNS) Kathryn Barger, a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, doesn\u2019t…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":311495,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[9,56,63,65,64],"class_list":["post-311494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=311494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311494\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/311495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=311494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=311494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=311494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}