MIAMI (WSVN) - A Miami-Dade County Circuit Court judge found two swastikas spray-painted outside two legal buildings in Miami.
Judge David Young shared two pictures of the hateful symbols drawn onto a wall of the Miami-Dade County Bar Association building and on a utility box in front of the civil courthouse, Friday.
“I said to myself, ‘No, it can’t be a swastika,'” Young said. “This is horrific, horrific, hateful messages about something because they believe differently than you do.”
The judge found one of the swastikas as he was walking back to work, and then he was notified about a second symbol, which has since been covered up.
“Hate is hate, and it is unacceptable,” Young said. “If you hate someone because they’re Jewish, just think what you’re missing.”
After discovering the symbols on Thursday, Young immediately reported the drawings to authorities.
The judge said that finding one swastika is simply one too many, and while the images have been covered up, he said there is no place for hatred in the U.S.
“Not only do I hope the person is caught, but I hope the person will learn a lesson,” Young said. “The lesson that I would want these people to learn is that hate is not the way to go through life.”
Young said he thinks about other times in the U.S. where someone showed hate towards Jews, such as the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting that claimed the lives of 11 people.
He added that he is disheartened and sickened by the symbols.
“This is the first time I saw hate directed at me, as a Jew, close to a government building that represents freedom and democracy,” Young said. “If you go through life hating, you’re missing so much. Diversity helped create this fabulous country of ours.”
Young said several organizations, including City of Miami Police, the Miami-Dade Jewish Federation and the Anti-Defamation League, have been notified about the drawings.
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