UPMC chaplain among wounded in synagogue mass shooting

Veteran police officer, UPMC chaplain among wounded in synagogue mass shooting

Pittsburg Post Gazette
Shelly Bradbury
October 28, 2018

Pittsburgh police officer Tim Matson is seen here after receiving an award at the 19th Annual Law Enforcement Agency Directors Awards Ceremony on Jan. 27, 2017. Officer Matson was one of four officers wounded in the Squirrel Hill synagogue mass shooting on Oct. 27, 2018.

A veteran Pittsburgh police officer known for keeping his cool under pressure and using humor to defuse tense situations was one of four officers wounded while responding to an active shooter Saturday at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Squirrel Hill.

Pittsburgh police Officer Timothy Matson cracked jokes in his hospital room Sunday, a day after he was shot multiple times and critically injured while confronting the shooter who killed 11 people.

“We were in his hospital room today, visiting, and as soon as we walk in he’s already cracking jokes,” Cmdr. Jason Lando said. “He’s in that situation, where his life is the one in danger, and everyone is so worried about him — but he’s cracking jokes and it makes everyone feel better.”

That’s just the type of guy he is, Cmdr. Lando said. Officer Matson joined the department in 2005 and was assigned to Zone 5. He has been a part of the city’s SWAT team since 2016.

“When bullets are flying and people’s lives are in danger, Tim Matson is the guy you want going through the door,” Cmdr. Lando said. “He’s the guy who goes in and calmly gets the job done.”

An online fundraising campaign for Officer Matson raised nearly $20,000 Sunday.
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Four Police Officers among the wounded in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh synagogue mass shooting claims 11 lives; 4 officers among multiple wounded: Officials

"First responders prevented the shooting from becoming a worse tragedy, and the injured have been taken to three area hospitals with level one trauma centers. Without their courage, this tragedy would have been far worse." Alleghany Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich

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'Darkest day in Pittsburgh's history': Officials discuss new details in Squirrel Hill massacre

Pittsburgh Post Gazette Shelly Bradbury and Ashley Murray October 28,2018 Law enforcement officers, prosecutors and others discussed the latest details of Saturday’s mass shooting at Tree of Life Congregation in Squirrel Hill at a Sunday morning press conference.

The 11 people killed inside a Squirrel Hill synagogue Saturday included a husband and wife and two brothers, authorities said Sunday. 

The victims, who ranged in age from 54 to 97, were identified as: Joyce Fienberg, 75, of Oakland

Richard Gottfried, 65, of Ross

Rose Mallinger, 97, of Squirrel Hill

Jerry Rabinowitz, 66, of Edgewood

brothers Cecil Rosenthal, 59, of Squirrel Hill, and David Rosenthal, 54, of Squirrel Hill

married couple Bernice Simon, 84, and Sylvan Simon, 86, of Wilkinsburg

Daniel Stein, 71, of Squirrel Hill

Melvin Wax, 88, of Squirrel Hill

Irving Younger, 69, of Mt. Washington. 

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New Army Second LT Murdered in Maryland

Death of graduating college student killed at U of Maryland investigated as hate crime
ABC 7 WJLA
by Ryan Hughes, John Gonzalez and Anna-Lysa Gayle
Sunday, May 21st 2017

Collins’ pastor Darryl Godlock says not only was he days away from graduation, but he was recently commissioned into the U.S. Army as a second lieutenant.

COLLEGE PARK, Md. (ABC7) — Bowie State University’s vice president for student affairs, Dr. Artie Lee Travis, expressed outrage Sunday night.

“Hate has no place in America. Hate has no place on a college campus,” said Travis. “We have no doubt that Sean Urbanski, with a knife, stabbed Richard W. Collins III,” said UMPD Chief David Mitchell. “He said to the victim ‘step left if you know what’s good for you’.”

Officials are now investigating Collins’ murder as a possible hate crime.

The FBI was brought in to assist with the investigation after detectives learned that Urbanski is a member of a racist Facebook group page.
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"Murderer" Carved by Coward on Iraq Veteran's Truck

'Murderer' etched into Henderson veteran's truck
KVVU FOX 5 News
Written by Craig Huber
and Cyndi Lundeberg
and Jordan Gartner
Mar 18, 2016

“My mind went blank. When you look at it, it’s so hard to actually accept that it’s real."

The word "murderer" was etched into Henderson veteran Livio Waits' truck on March 17, 2016. (Livio Waits)

HENDERSON, NV (FOX5)
A local veteran believes he was the victim of a hate crime after an incident took place Thursday morning.

Livio Waits, an Iraq war veteran, awoke to find the word “murderer” etched into the side of his truck.

"You know, when I first saw it, it was hard to wrap my head around it," Waits said.

Waits was a sniper and his truck has veteran license plates. He believes his truck was defaced by someone who opposed the war.

"I didn't even put it together what the word meant at first, but then it all just hit me like a wave," said Waits.

The Iraq war veteran, who works at Battlefield Las Vegas, said it’s hard to imagine why someone he put his life on the line for would treat him like this.
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Third Marine Attacked--Hate Crime

Marine Corps veteran says he became target of hate crime
ABC 6 News
BY LISA RANTALA
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 29TH 2016

COLUMBUS — A Marine Corps veteran says he became a random target in the Short North and police are consulting with prosecutors to determine if the case is a hate crime.

Grant Gray enlisted in the Marines in 2011 and served seven months in Afghanistan last year.

"My job in the Marine Corps was the 7-51. It's aircraft rescue and firefighting," Gray told ABC 6/FOX 28 from his home near Lima. "Pretty much rescuing downed pilots when they crash."

He's now studying sports management at Miami University and has been thinking about transferring to OSU for business. He came here to Columbus out homes and apartments Friday.

But he says rather than finding support, he was the recipient of hate. "I don't remember too much because I have a pretty severe concussion," Gray said.
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Man Charged with Hate Crime After Attacking Vietnam Veteran in Wheelchair!

Man accused of assaulting veteran in wheelchair charged with hate crime
FOX 31 Denver
BY ROB LOW
EPTEMBER 4, 2015

BOULDER, Colo. -- A disabled Vietnam Veteran, who uses a wheelchair, praised Boulder County prosecutors for charging his attacker with a hate crime.

Heriberto Chacon, who goes by the name Xakon Con Passion, was leaving a Chase Bank ATM in Lafayette on July 18, when he said he was attacked by a complete stranger. “He assaulted me and punched me, he hit me, I can`t tell you how many times,” said Chacon.

Chacon has used a wheelchair for years because of nerve damage he suffered after being exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam.

He said he was flabbergasted when the suspect, 61-year-old Jerry Dawson, started hitting him and calling him “a cripple” as he left the bank with his nurse MaryAnne Bowe. “If I wouldn`t have seen it and so many other people seen it, I don`t know that people would believe me,” said Bowe, who called the assault completely unprovoked. “I did hear him say ‘stand up and fight like a man’ and that`s when a bystander came and said ‘sir, sir, can`t you see he`s in a wheelchair’?”
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Acts of Love Outnumber Acts of Hate

The State of Hate in America on the Huffington Post by Brian Levin covers the statistics of hate crimes in the US. This followed the hate crime against members of the AME Church bible study group murdered after being "too nice" to the shooter so filled with hate he was still determined to kill them.

Levin writes,

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) collects data on crimes reported to police, but participation and accuracy varies significantly by jurisdiction. In 2013, the latest available year, the FBI enumerated 5,933 hate crime incidents and five hate crime homicides in the United States through the National Incident Based Reporting System. This number represents a significant decline in the number of hate crimes over the last 15 years.

There have been and will continue to be more hate crimes simply because the courageous stand for loving others while the perpetrators stand for themselves.

Many seem to be more shocked by the response following this unthinkable act but they forget we are all born to love.

The hater was captured because someone was praying for the victims and their families.

Police got a tip from Debbie Dills, who reportedly spotted Roof on her way into work. She followed him for 35 miles, the Shelby Star reported.

“I had been praying for those people on my way to work,” Dills told the newspaper about victims of the church shooting. “I was in the right place at the right time.”

The church itself was a victim of hate.

Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church has been a presence in Charleston since 1816, when African-American members of Charleston’s Methodist Episcopal Church formed their own congregation after a dispute over burial grounds. Known as “Mother Emanuel,” it’s been the headquarters for civil rights activity over the decades.

It was burned to the ground at one point but was rebuilt.

Throughout its history, it overcame obstacle after obstacle — destroyed by an earthquake, banned by the state. But its church members persevered, making it the largest African-American church in terms of seating space in Charleston today.

Some are taught to hate. Some are just so consumed with finding others to blame for their own misery they have to blame someone else and that way, they are not forced to take a good hard look at themselves.

“There is no greater coward than a criminal who enters a house of God and slaughters innocent people engaged in the study of scripture,” Cornell William Brooks said.

The church started because they responded to being mistreated with love and hope. While the rest of the country seems stunned by their support and compassion for each other, they are ignoring the obvious. People acting out of love always outnumbers those acting out of hate.

32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked.

“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.

35 Jesus wept.

36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” John 11

While the Sanhedrin wanted Jesus dead because they hated Him, what He said was pure love.
Trial and Death of Jesus

Like a terminally ill patient, Jesus knows that death is around the corner. God has mapped out a path and written a ticket reading "End of Earthly Life." Our mortality is a frightening thing. Jesus faces it by doing what he always did: he took his concerns to God in prayer. While warning the disciples throughout this scene of the danger of temptation, Jesus walks into his valley of the shadow of death through the heavenly courts of God's presence. Unlike some who face death, he is not angry; nor is he stoic. He is not withdrawn, he is not bereft of hope. He simply is honest with God: "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me." If there is any way I can avoid experiencing your cup of wrath for others, he prays, then remove it. (on cup as wrath, Ps 11:6; 75:7-8; Is 51:17, 19, 22; Jer 25:15-16; 49:12; 51:57; Ezek 23:31-34).
Like many who face death, Jesus would like to avoid dying now. If he were considering only his personal preference, he would rather not experience the pain of mortality and the horror of paying for sin.

Marine Iraq Veteran Beaten Over Michael Brown?

Marine, war veteran beaten in possible hate crime
WMCAction
News5.com Staff
Posted: Aug 26, 2014

West Point, Miss.
(WMC) - A 32-year-old Marine and Iraq war veteran attacked and beaten in what might be a hate crime.

Investigators say several men jumped Ralph Weems in a parking lot in West Point, Mississippi.

One man is in custody, but West Point Police Chief Tim Brinkley says there were more attackers. His department is developing a list and trying to bring them in for questioning.

The Associated Press reports that Weems' friend and fellow veteran David Knighten says the beating was racially charged.

Knighten says someone outside a Waffle House told him politely that it was not a safe place for whites to be at the moment, because people inside were upset over the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
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FBI says Iraq veteran tried to hire KKK hitmen

Iraq veteran from Munford tried to hire KKK hit men to kill black neighbor, FBI officials said (updated)
AL News
By Carol Robinson
August 26, 2013

A Munford man is in federal custody after authorities say he tried to hire the Ku Klux Klan to kill his black neighbor.

FBI agents arrested Allen Wayne "Big Dad" Morgan, 29, about 3:30 p.m. Sunday at the Econo Lodge in Oxford, said FBI spokesman Paul Daymond. Morgan is charged with murder-for-hire, and also under investigation for possible hate crimes.

Authorities said Morgan, and Iraq veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, thought he was hiring the KKK to kill neighbor Clifford Maurice Mosley. They said he spelled out in detail how he wanted the man killed.
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Army Reservist-cab driver assaulted for being "Muslim" is Iraq veteran

Muslim cabdriver alleges assault by passenger who cited Boston Marathon bombing

Fairfax prosecutors said they will review the video to determine whether to prosecute the case as a hate crime, which would elevate the charge to a felony. Prosecutors would have to show that Dahlberg attacked Salim because of his religion, race or national origin.

CAIR said it has documented two suspected hate crimes elsewhere since the Boston bombing. Hours after the April 15 explosions, a Bangladeshi man reportedly suffered a dislocated shoulder when beaten at a New York City restaurant. In Malden, Mass., a woman wearing an Islamic head scarf allegedly was assaulted April 17 by a man shouting anti-Muslim slurs.

Salim, a married father of four who emigrated from Somalia 15 years ago, said the incident was particularly painful because he is a naturalized U.S. citizen and an Army Reserve sergeant who served in Baghdad and the U.S. military facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He has worked in intelligence and as a linguist, he said.

Exclusive cellphone video of alleged cab assault

Apr 30 2013

Taxi driver Mohamed Salim says he was attacked by a passenger who called him a terrorist. A recording of their contentious ride was captured on Salim’s cellphone.

The Fold/ The Washington Post

Ex-Marine arrested in alleged hate crime

Ex-Marine arrested in alleged hate crime in attack outside California gay bar
By Miranda Leitsinger, Staff Writer
NBC News

A former Marine has been arrested in the beating of two men outside a popular gay bar in Southern California last year and will face hate-crime charges for using anti-gay slurs during the attack, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said Thursday.

John Kelly O'Leary, 21, was arrested Monday by police in Evergreen Park, Ill., Deputy District Attorney Gretchen Ford of the hate crimes unit said in a statement. O'Leary was discharged from the Marines on Oct. 19, about six weeks after the attack, Marine Corps’ spokesman Master Gunnery Sgt. Mark Oliva told NBC News. He will be extradited from Illinois to California to face the charges.

O'Leary and a group of friends, including other Marines, went to the Silver Fox bar in Long Beach, Calif. in the early morning hours of Sept. 3, 2012. O'Leary was accused of shouting anti-gay slurs outside the bar at closing time, which triggered the hate crime charge, said Jane Robison, a spokeswoman for the district attorney's office.
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4 Suspects arrested for assault, could face hate crime charges

Four Marines arrested for assaulting man at Long Beach gay bar
Suspects arrested for assault, could face hate crime charges
By Tracy Manzer
Staff Writer
Posted: 09/04/2012

LONG BEACH — Long Beach Police Department detectives are investigating a possible hate crime attack involving four Marine Corps members who attacked a man outside a popular local gay bar, authorities confirmed Tuesday.

Police were called to the Silver Fox, located on Redondo Avenue near Fourth Street on the edge of Belmont Heights, at about 2 a.m. Monday, said Nancy Pratt, a Long Beach Police Department spokeswoman.

"Based on the preliminary investigation, it was determined that an assault had occurred to a man by several male suspects after they had left the establishment," Pratt said Tuesday.

During the assault, Pratt said, two other people who came to the aid of the victim were also attacked. Only one of the victims was taken to the hospital with what police described as "non-life-threatening injuries."

Silver Fox Manager John Barnes told the Press-Telegram on Monday that the four men came into the bar late Sunday or early Monday and the primary culprit, who seemed visibly uncomfortable while at the bar, called Barnes "sweetheart."

"You could tell by the tone of his voice that he was uncomfortable, he was making a demeaning remark," Barnes said.

The attack occurred as the bar was closing, with the primary suspect punching a young gay man who was much smaller, Barnes said.
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Video shows white teens driving over, killing black man, says DA

Video shows white teens driving over, killing black man, says DA
See show times »

By Drew Griffin and Scott Bronstein, CNN Special Investigations
August 7, 2011 10:52 p.m. EDT

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
James Craig Anderson, 49, was run over and killed on June 26
Authorities say a group of white teens targeted Anderson because he was black
The suspected ringleader, Deryl Dedmon, Jr., 18, has been charged with murder
Dedmon faces possible double life sentence for the murder

Editor's note: The following story contains language some readers may consider offensive.
Jackson, Mississippi (CNN) -- On a recent Sunday morning just before dawn, two carloads of white teenagers drove to Jackson, Mississippi, on what the county district attorney says was a mission of hate: to find and hurt a black person.

In a parking lot on the western side of town they found their victim.

James Craig Anderson, a 49-year-old auto plant worker, was standing in a parking lot, near his car. The teens allegedly beat Anderson repeatedly, yelled racial epithets, including "White Power!" according to witnesses.

Hinds County District Attorney Robert Shuler Smith says a group of the teens then climbed into their large Ford F250 green pickup truck, floored the gas, and drove the truck right over Anderson, killing him instantly.

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Video shows white teens driving over, killing black man, says DA

Fort Carson gay soldiers beaten in possible hate crime

Gay soldiers beaten in possible hate crime
Posted: Jul 3, 2011 6:54 PM by John Romero


Their car a bloody mess, a group of Fort Carson soldiers and their friends try to pick up the pieces after a seemingly senseless hate crime early Saturday morning at the Albertacos restaurant in northeastern Colorado Springs.

Chris, one of the victims and a gay soldier, asked that we hide his identity. He tells us a group of black men and women took exception to the way one of them was dressed. "We walked in and immediately one black male started making remarks like, faggot."

Chris tells us hey tried to leave when the shoving started. But when they went out in to the parking lot Chris says it was an ambush. "At that point it was basically a bum rush." he explains, "I turn around and my friend was getting stomped by 6 black males." Chris and his friends were outnumbered and were brutally beaten. "Another female friend of mine was trying to fight off 3 or 4 men." he says.
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Gay soldiers beaten in possible hate crime

Man accused of beating female reservist jailed

Man accused of beating female reservist jailed

By Johnny Clark - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Sep 23, 2009 13:35:02 EDT

JONESBORO, Ga. — A white man accused of beating a black female Army reservist while yelling racial slurs at her outside a suburban Atlanta restaurant was indicted Wednesday on felony charges.

Troy Dale West Jr., 47, of Poulan faces one count each of aggravated assault, false imprisonment and first-degree cruelty to children under the indictment filed in Clayton County Superior Court. He also faces two counts each of battery and disorderly conduct, which are misdemeanors.

West’s lawyer, Larry King, declined comment.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/09/ap_female_reservist_assault_092309/

The Family of a Homeless Hate Crime Victim Speaks Out

The Family of a Homeless Hate Crime Victim Speaks Out
by Shannon Moriarty


Published September 14, 2009 @ 08:30AM PT
Tonight, thousands of people across the United States will sleep on the streets. The situations that led them there are varied and complicated; each person has their own unique story. At the same time, violent attacks against people living without a home in the U.S. are on the rise. Yet, few families of homeless hate crime victims have spoken out about the tragedy of losing a loved one twice; once to life on the streets, and again at the hands of extreme violence. Until today.

Holly Case's uncle, Daniel Case, was the victim of an attack by two teenagers in February in Bradenton, Florida (read the original story here). She writes on behalf of her family about how her uncle's life and needless death have affected her family.

By Holly Case

As I sit down to write this, it has been six months since my uncle, Daniel Case, was murdered. My uncle was homeless off-and-on for the last 10 years. The night he was murdered started just like any other night for him: taking shelter behind a local business instead of a homeless shelter. Unfortunately, this made him incredibly susceptible. Two teenagers (known gang members) violently assaulted him and he succumbed to those injuries. They left him behind the business, him screaming as they ran off.


I should start out by giving you a little background of my uncle: he was born in 1950, the second oldest of seven children. He played football in high school and served his country in the Army in Vietnam. Unfortunately, his time in Vietnam changed him as a person; after returning, he suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and would have night terrors almost nightly. During these night terrors, he would suffer flashbacks and re-live the terror of the war: shouting, "Take cover!", and picking up furniture to hide behind. This ordeal was not only traumatic for him, but also quite scary for his family. He had three girls and a wife at home who dealt with this on a regular basis.
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The Family of a Homeless Hate Crime Victim Speaks Out

Congressman says gay sailor's death is a possible hate crime

Congressman says gay sailor's death is a possible hate crime [Updated]
10:10 AM July 2, 2009
Rep. Bob Filner (D-Chula Vista) said today that he has asked the Department of Defense and the Marine Corps to investigate whether the killing of a sailor, who was gay, at Camp Pendleton was a hate crime.

Filner, chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said he wanted a complete investigation of circumstances surrounding the death of Seaman August Provost, 29, of Houston. Provost's body was found about 3:30 a.m. Tuesday in a guard shack on the western edge of the sprawling base.

Gay leaders in San Diego had asked Filner to intervene. Nicole Murray-Ramirez, chairman of the San Diego Human Relations Commission, said Provost's family believes the sailor had been harassed by other personnel on the base.

Filner said initial indications are that Provost was shot and his body burned. He said his committee also will investigate the case.
go here for moreCongressman says gay sailor's death is a possible hate crime

Grim twist in torture-slay of Marine Sgt. Jan Pietrzak and wife

Grim twist in torture-slay of Marine Sgt. Jan Pietrzak and wife: racial epithets on walls of home
By Nancy Dillon In Murrietta, Calif. and Corky Siemaszko In New York
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Race may have been the motive for the brutal murders of Brooklyn-raised Marine Sgt. Jan Pawel Pietrzak and his wife, Quiana.

After insisting for months the Pietrzaks were slain by four other Marines for their money, a key prosecution witness dropped a bombshell Friday - racist remarks were spray-painted in the couple's California home.

The words "N----- Lover" were found on the wall near the master bedroom and on a bathroom mirror, Riverside County Homicide Investigator Benjamin Ramirez testified.

Pietrzak, 24, was white, his 26-year-old wife was black, and the four accused Marines are black.

Ramirez's revelation came at the start of a two-day hearing to determine if the Camp Pendleton Marines should stand trial - and plunged the victims' heartbroken mothers into tears.
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Grim twist in torture-slay of Marine Sgt. Jan Pietrzak and wife

Slain immigrant's brother hopes for hate-crime legacy

Slain immigrant's brother hopes for hate-crime legacy
Story Highlights
Police say attackers shouted racial slurs during beating of Jose Sucuzhanay

Brother says victim will be remembered as "a victim of a hate crime"

Killing was second recent death of Ecuadorian in possible New York hate crime


From Susan Candiotti
CNN

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Mourning relatives say they hope a slain Latino immigrant can become a symbol against hate crimes.


New York City police are still hunting for suspects in the killing of Ecuadorian Jose Sucuzhanay, who died Friday, five days after he was hit in the head with a bottle and beaten with a baseball bat.

Police say racial slurs were yelled during the attack in Brooklyn.

Sucuzhanay's brother, Diego Sucuzhanay, told CNN his brother would always be remembered as a victim of a hate crime and that it was time for them and others to speak out.

"Our brother wanted to make history when he died. And he did already, we should be proud of him, [despite] the way he died, we should be proud of him," he said.

Hundreds of people marched Sunday through the Brooklyn neighborhood where Sucuzhanay was attacked, carrying signs saying "no more hate crimes." Watch marchers protest against hate crimes »
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Crowd gathers to turn scrawlings of hate into messages of hope

"This is a place where intolerance is not tolerated," Malmberg said.

Crowd gathers to turn scrawlings of hate into messages of hope
About 200 join to show support of Newton temple
By John S. Forrester
Globe Correspondent / November 24, 2008
NEWTON - Responding to swastikas spray-painted outside two places of worship last week, about 200 people gathered outside Temple Shalom in Newton yesterday to condemn the incidents and spread a message of hope and tolerance.

A swastika was found on a sign outside Temple Shalom on Nov. 15 as members arrived for a bar mitzvah and a bat mitzvah, rites of adulthood for a boy and girl. Another swastika was found Wednesday on a curb outside of Eliot Church, a United Church of Christ affiliate.

"We've wiped away the hateful symbol, but it is our presence here as one community that enables us to say no to hate," said Rabbi Eric Gurvis of Temple Shalom, as he began yesterday's rally.

Gurvis thanked the Newton Police Department, residents, and community leaders for their support after the vandalism.

"I know that out of something very bad, we're going to make something good," said Newton Mayor David Cohen. Addressing residents' potential safety concerns, Cohen urged the crowd not to be afraid and "to be whoever you are."

"We have to reaffirm our commitment to diversity," he said.

Reverend Richard Malmberg of the Second Church in Newton, former chairman of the Newton Interfaith Clergy Association, highlighted his church's more than 50-year relationship with Temple Shalom and denounced the painting of the swastika on the sign as a "cowardly and vulgar act of vandalism."

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