25/03/24
3 Maryland middle-schoolers charged with antisemitic hate crime
Three students at a southern Maryland middle school have been charged with hate-crime violations in connection with acts that included Nazi salutes, the Calvert County state’s attorney said.
The students, all 13 years old, attend Plum Point Middle School in Calvert, according to a statement posted by the office of the prosecutor, Robert Harvey.
The statement said they have also been charged with harassment.
The students “displayed swastikas, made Nazi salutes, and directed offensive comments to a classmate because of the classmate’s religious beliefs,” the prosecutor’s statement said, quoting charging documents.
The students were charged as juveniles and were not named, the prosecutor’s office said. The offensive comments were not described.
The behavior in question allegedly began in December and went on for several months, despite repeated requests to stop, Harvey’s office said.
The unnamed victim ultimately reported the matter to state police. They investigated and filed the charges, the Calvert state’s attorney’s office said.
Charges are to be forwarded to the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services (DJS) for appropriate action.
Noting that Maryland was founded on the principle of religious toleration, Harvey called it “frankly astonishing that nearly 400 years later some people continue to persecute others based upon their religion.”
He urged parents, schools and faith and community leaders to make certain that children know “religious persecution has no place in our society.”
Related Links
Back to index