January 12, 2006

Shocked commuter discovers Swastikas along
Camden Avenue during morning commute;
Castillero also vandalized

Vandals could be charged with hate crime

By Kymberli W. Brady
Staff Writer

While on her way to work last Wednesday, Michelle Takeuchi passed by freshly painted images along Camden Avenue that she says made her sick to her stomach.

They may be painted over now, but the unmatched paint served as a reminder to Almaden residents heading back to work last Wednesday of at least six Nazi swastikas that lined the walls up Camden Avenue, from Castillero Middle School to Paseo Los Cerritos.

“I was driving to work on Camden Avenue, heading up the hill towards Paseo Los Cerritos when I started seeing these white flashes,” she said. “Then I realized that they were swastikas! I was really appalled. I couldn’t believe what I saw.”

Takeuchi immediately called emergency services and reported the half dozen hastily spray-painted symbols to the Almaden Times Weekly and followed with e-mails to the San Jose Police Department and the District 10 City Council offices.

“I wasn’t done with it,” Takeuchi added. “I felt that just wasn’t enough. I wanted to make sure that this never happens again in our community—or anywhere else.”

City Councilmember Nancy Pyle said Thursday morning, after speaking at an Almaden Business Association meeting, that she hadn’t yet heard of the incident, but expressed outrage, coupled with restraint over the vandal’s choice of symbolism.

“You hate to give too much importance to this,” she said. “You don’t want to glorify somebody who is absolutely doing something 100-percent wrong. By the same token, we need to always condemn practices such as this, because it’s just so un-American, so antithetical to the way we think.”

The tagging didn’t stop there. At the bottom of the Camden Avenue hill at Castillero Middle School another swastika marred the outside wall facing McAbee, and the word “dope,” was discovered scrawled in spray paint on the outside of the opposite wall along Hirabayashi Street. Both were seen by students as they returned from the winter break.

According to SJPD Acting Captain and Southern Division Commander Jack Farmer, both incidents apparently happened late the night before and the perpetrators are most likely local juveniles. He believes there is a good chance they are related because they happened on the same night and were in close proximity—something he says the department is looking into.

“I suspect it was probably somebody who lives nearby, but I don’t know that for sure,” he said. “What I do know is that they exercised very poor judgment. What they did is totally unacceptable and we’re trying to track down the suspects. If we find them, they will be arrested.”

Farmer stressed the importance of immediate notification when an incident like that occurs—especially at a school, so that his department can expedite the removal process and spare the students.

“I know they wanted to get that thing erased right away so the kids wouldn’t see it,” he said, “And I support that. I just want to remind everyone to call us as soon as possible, because the sooner we know about these things, the sooner we can get right on it.”

He has also called in graffiti investigators and the Bureau of Investigations’ Hate Crimes Unit in an effort to facilitate arrests.

“I wanted to look at this from different viewpoints,” explained Farmer. “That way, maybe we can tie this in—maybe they have a bit of information that I don’t have so we can track down who the suspects are.”

The odds are on their side and bad judgment isn’t all the vandals left behind, according to authorities, who say they are following up on leads but wouldn’t elaborate further.

When caught, instead of graffiti charges, the suspects could instead be facing two counts of hate crimes under California Penal Code 11411—terrorizing (e.g., placing a Nazi swastika on private property), a misdemeanor.

Although no one was targeted specifically, Farmer said the District Attorney’s office will make the final call, based on the findings of the Bureau of Investigations.”

“We’re taking it very seriously,” Farmer added. “I’d sure like to find the individuals who did that, and they’ll face the full consequences for their actions.”