The antisemitic graffiti included the word “Jew” written on an image of a rat on a crosswalk
By Dana Hedgpeth and Justin Wm. Moyer – The Washington Post
The graffiti included the word “Jew” written on an image of a rat on a crosswalk.
A 60-year-old man was arrested Monday in connection with antisemitic graffiti found near the Gallery Place-Chinatown Metro station in downtown Washington, police said.
Generoso Anthony Capodilupo, of no fixed address, is charged with multiple counts of defacing public or private property in five incidents of graffiti. He was carrying three Sharpie markers when arrested, court documents said.
In three incidents in early August, authorities said, he wrote antisemitic messages on images of the Chinese zodiac rat painted on the street in Chinatown.
The word “Jew” was written on an image of a rat on a crosswalk at Seventh and H streets NW, police said. The rat is one of 12 images depicting the symbols of the Chinese zodiac.
In two other incidents — one Sunday and another on Tuesday — swastikas were drawn on windows and tables of a Starbucks in the Chinatown neighborhood. Police said Capodilupo also went to another Starbucks Monday and “again drew swastikas on the business’s window.”
Capodilupo was a regular at the coffee shop who had previously made antisemitic remarks, according to court documents. He had also been heard making such remarks at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library while conducting research on antisemitism, the documents said.
The Downtown Business Improvement District, a nonprofit group devoted to capital improvement that is trying to clean up the graffiti, condemned it.
“The DowntownDC BID remains hopeful that these hateful incidents will desist,” Neil O. Albert, the group’s director, said in a statement. “Downtown should be a safe and welcoming place for everyone and actions such as these will not be tolerated.”
Peter Hermann contributed to this report.
Source: Man, 60, arrested in anti-Semitic graffiti case in Chinatown – The Washington Post
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