LA JOLLA, Calif. (KGTV) — Many students at the University of California San Diego are feeling fear, anger, and disgust after someone drew several swastikas inside of a dorm bathroom this weekend ... using human feces.
It happened in the Kaleidoscope building in Sixth College. The video also shows the toilet cover smashed on the floor.
It's especially heartbreaking for Jewish students like Elanit Leiter, who lives just one floor away.
"It's disgusting. It's horrible to find out, and it's almost surreal," said Leiter. "Because is willing to dip their hand in something like that. Something disgusting that no one should ever touch, and draw paint with it. It's something that symbolizes six million deaths of my people."
People like Leiter's grandparents.
"A lot of people don't actually realize how close the holocaust was," said Leiter. "From my dad's side, both of my parents are holocaust survivors."
A year after a similar incident, someone drew a swastika in the library. Leiter wasn't at UCSD then but says these incidents are a reminder of a scary reality. The FBI says more than half of religious hate crimes target Jewish Americans.
"Going to public school I've dealt with my fair share of swastikas being written on my papers," said Leiter. "I've had people who don't talk to me because I'm Jewish."
So she, and other Jewish students, are asking for the public's help in finding whoever is responsible for the vandalism at school.
"Not only do I feel like that person has to be held responsible, I want to know what was going on in their mind," said Leiter.
In an email to students, UCSD's chancellor said the university condemns all forms of racism, intolerance, and bigotry, adding that those involved will be held accountable. Police are investigating.
