Street campaign signs of Tempe City Council candidate Brooke St. George were vandalized with antisemitic imagery in multiple locations over the past week.
St. George said a friend notified her on Dec. 31 that someone had drawn a swastika and what she called a "Hitler mustache" on her sign at the intersection of University Drive and Rural Road.
St. George said her first instinct was to get the sign out of the ground as soon as possible, as she found the symbols "terribly offensive."
"This is not OK," St. George said. "I don't want other people to have to see it."
Two other signs were soon found vandalized as well. The same images were drawn on signs at University Drive and McClintock Drive. St. George scrubbed off the iconography with a magic eraser, she said.
At Southern Avenue and Priest Drive, her head was cut out of the sign, which has since been replaced.
St. George said she reported all three incidents to the Tempe Police Department.
"For the most part, people have taken it really seriously. The outpouring of support has been great," St. George said. "I want to say the Tempe PD has been very responsive as well."
In a written statement, a spokesperson for Tempe PD said the incidents are being investigated.
"Acts involving antisemitic imagery or hateful rhetoric have no place in the political process or our community," the spokesperson said.
St. George said she is "undeterred" by the vandalism and will continue her campaign. She does not believe another candidate for the city council was responsible for the defacement.
She said she hopes the vandalism stops and it is not a broader attack against on the Jewish community.
St. George has consulted with leaders from Temple Emanuel of Tempe, a local synagogue and Jewish community center, and the Anti-Defamation League to understand how to properly handle the situation, as she is not Jewish herself.
Rabbi Steven Folberg of Temple Emanuel of Tempe said he thanked St. George for reaching out and letting them know of the incidents.
"It's very heartening when someone cares enough to reach out like that," Folberg said. "The incident itself is disturbing, but her reaching out in a way that I think is really appropriate was great."
Folberg said Tempe PD has been communicative about instances of antisemitism in the past, especially in a time when antisemitic incidents are on the rise.
This is not the first instance where Folberg has seen antisemitic hostility in his community, he said.
In 2021, Folberg served as a rabbi at Congregation Beth Israel in Austin, Texas, when the synagogue was set aflame. The attack was deemed a hate crime and federally prosecuted.
"It's disturbing," Folberg said. "It's not the kind of thing that you ever want to hear."
Folberg said his Jewish peers are alert to this kind of violence and are concerned about their security. He said any kind of attack on a group based on religion or identity is "unacceptable."
"Words lead to actions," Folberg said. "There's a lot of that out there, and that kind of hostility, that kind of language, eventually tends to spill over into violence."
READ MORE: Tempe City Council meeting canceled over 'safety threat'
St. George said she feels this type of hate and rhetoric is "normalized" in today's politics.
"I fondly recall when we were able to discuss politics and a civil discourse and have it not be so vitriolic like it is today," St. George said.
She said conflict must remain civil, and it is already difficult enough for people to run for office in this political climate.
"I think we can all agree that there's no place for hate in Tempe of any kind," St. George said.
Edited by Carsten Oyer, Senna James, Sophia Braccio and Ellis Preston.
Reach the reporter at apruiz@asu.edu and follow @andiruiz2405 on X.
Like The State Press on Facebook and follow @statepress on X.
Andi Ruiz is a politics reporter at the State Press dedicated to serving her community with truth and honesty in her reporting. She has been working in broadcast and news since high school and was recently an anchor at The Cut Network during her first year at Cronkite. She is going into her second year at ASU as a Barrett Honors student studying journalism and mass communication with a minor in political science.
