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Texas man charged with hate crime for allegedly vandalizing Beverly Hills menorah

By AP Staff
Updated  December 19, 2022 1:19pm PST
Beverly Hills
Associated Press

Texas man charged with vandalizing Menorah

A man from Texas has been charged with felony vandalism and a hate crime for allegedly defacing a menorah in Beverly Hills.

A man from Texas has been charged with felony vandalism and a hate crime for allegedly defacing a menorah in Beverly Hills.

On Sunday around p.m., Beverly Hills police officers were called to an area near Sunset Boulevard and Beverly Drive after receiving a report of someone who was defacing a Menorah on private property.

Eric Brian King, 47, of Dallas, was booked on suspicion of felony vandalism and a hate crime, Lt. Giovanni Trejo of the Beverly Hills Police Department said. King was being held on $20,000 bail, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Detectives are conducting a follow-up investigation, which may lead to additional charges being sought against King, Trejo said.

On Tuesday, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced that King had been formally charged.

"The ugliness of antisemitism has revealed itself in many ways throughout our community and across the country in recent weeks," Gascón said. "I condemn it, and we must make clear that such hate will not be tolerated. The conduct alleged in this case is despicable, especially coming during one of the most joyous times of the year for Jewish people."

Victim speaks out after arrest made in vandalism of menorah in Beverly Hills

The man suspected of vandalizing a menorah on the first night of Hanukkah has been arrested.

As Hanukkah begins, President Biden and others condemn rising antisemitism

President Joe Biden and others around the country are condemning growing antisemitism attacks as Hanukkah begins for Jews around the world. 

The Democratic president will tell guests on Monday night – the second night of Hanukkah -- that silence is complicity, according to White House officials, and will add that it’s imperative that hate, violence and antisemitism are condemned.

The holiday celebration comes during a spate of antisemitic episodes. 

President Joe Biden and others around the country are condemning growing antisemitism attacks as Hanukkah begins for Jews around the world.

The Democratic president will tell guests on Monday night – the second night of Hanukkah -- that silence is complicity, according to White House officials, and will add that it’s imperative that hate, violence and antisemitism are condemned.

The holiday celebration comes during a spate of antisemitic episodes.

Former President Donald Trump hosted a Holocaust-denying white supremacist at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida. The rapper Ye expressed love for Adolf Hitler in an interview. Basketball star Kyrie Irving appeared to promote an antisemitic film on social media. Neo-Nazi trolls are clamoring to return to Twitter as new CEO Elon Musk grants "amnesty" to suspended accounts.

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The Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish civil rights group, tracked 2,717 antisemitic instances of assault, harassment and vandalism last year, a 34% increase over the previous year and the highest number since the New York City-based group began tracking them in 1979.

Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, recently hosted a White House discussion on antisemitism and combating hate with Jewish leaders representing the Reform, Conservative and Orthodox denominations of the faith. At the event, Emhoff, who is Jewish, said he was "in pain right now" over rising antisemitism.

Among those invited to Monday’s White House event are a Holocaust survivor and retired public school teacher, a rabbi at Temple Emanuel in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and Michele Taylor, who is U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Council and the daughter of Holocaust survivors.

A menorah has been added to the White House holiday collection this year, lit nightly during the eight-day Jewish festival of Hanukkah. White House carpenters built the menorah out of wood that was saved from a Truman-era renovation and sterling silver candle cups.

In the Bay Area, the Jewish Community Relations Council is hosting an event Monday night in Napa with state Sen. Bill Dod, Assemblywoman Cecilia Aguiar-Curry and other politicians at Congregation Beth Shalom to show solidarity with the Jewish people.

The event is called "Here I Am," and is one of many being hosted around the Bay Area For more information, click here.

KTVU and City News Service contributed to this report.