The Bradley University Anti-Zionist graffiti incident from March of this year is being investigated as a hate crime.
Anti-Zionist graffiti was found on Bradley University campus on March 15th, 2024. The graffiti targeted the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity, which for months now has a giant “Stand With Israel” sign displayed in front. The graffiti said “Free Palestine” and “AEPi Supports Genocide.”
New documents obtained from the Peoria Police Department show this incident is being treated as a hate crime. Alpha Epsilon Pi is a majority Jewish fraternity. However, none of the graffiti mentions Judaism or Jewish identity. Unless the person in the Ring video below is captured and states they targeted the fraternity because of its Jewish identity, all evidence points to it being directed at the fraternity’s support for Israel.
Nevertheless, it was quickly deemed as anti-Semitic. Speech critical of Israel (the self-identified Jewish ethno-state which claims to represent all Jews)1 is often conflated as anti-Semitic because Israel uses Jewish identity as a human shield against legitimate criticism of the U.S.-backed nation-state.
According to documents acquired via a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Bradley University Police have brought in the FBI to assist in investigating this incident. A special agent Robert Toussaint is attached to the case and working with the State’s Attorney.
As of May 1st, University detectives still had a pending interview with someone. Bradley University continues to withhold several social media photos stating release of these photos would interfere with the investigation.
No arrests have been made yet regarding this case. No suspects or persons of interest have been provided by the police.
Israel is currently in the seventh month of its War on Gaza following the Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7th, 2023 by Hamas and other Palestinian militants that killed 766 civilians. Hamas also captured numerous prisoners of war and kidnapped many civilians totaling about 253 people. It was the largest killing & kidnapping of Israelis in a single day in the country’s history.
Israel’s War on Gaza has killed an estimated 35,000 Palestinians, an overwhelming majority of which are civilians. It is the largest death count of Palestinians in the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.2 Israel also has nearly 10,000 Palestinian hostages in its prisons, 3,660 of which have never been charged with any crime. Most Palestinians are tried in military courts with little, if any, due process.
- This is a disgusting anti-Semitic claim. Not all Jewish people support Israel, and Jewish people should not be prejudicially viewed as somehow connected to Israel, representative of Israeli beliefs or policies, or responsible for Israel’s actions.
- The Gazan Health Ministry either does not know or does not reveal the difference between civilian & combatant deaths. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) claim, as of April 2024, it has killed 13,000 Palestinian militants. Even if these numbers are accurate, the war is still the largest death count of Palestinian civilians in the conflict’s history
