As with almost everything in this world, there are positives and negatives to how quickly and easily we can communicate with each other nowadays.
Although it’s life-changing to have access to all the information in the world and to have so many choices for who we choose to share it with, so too do those on the darkest fringes of our society.
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Not only are these elements able to spread whatever hateful misinformation they want, but they’re empowered to create echo chambers where they can have their viewpoints reflected back at them several times over.
And when this happens enough, they can be emboldened to take their hate out into the world and do something like the suspect in today’s story has.
Since opening in 2005, the Jewish Children’s Museum has received over 2 million visitors.
As CNN reported , some of those visitors are encouraged to write the little ways that they transform the world on Post-It notes and put them up on the billboard display outside.
According to the museum’s co-founder, Devorah Halberstam, the display encourages children to “write acts of goodness and kindness.”
However, it’s clear that one visitor had different, darker intentions in mind when they decided to put this anti-Semitic note up on the billboard.
Although Halberstam said this note was “very vile,” she also said it wasn’t the first time the museum has received threats.
Nonetheless, the message’s placement seemed particularly abhorrent to New York City Bill de Blasio, who tweeted , “Imagine being a child who went to this mural for inspiration only to find this vile message. A wave of hatred has been allowed to fester in our society, but it ends in our city.”
Unfortunately, there aren’t many signs that herald a satisfying ending to this case.
![Image credit: Reddit | [deleted]](https://static.diply.com/23x9zxwPrTRVoFjAhIFr.jpg)
According to CNN , although the NYPD is investigating whether the note constitutes a hate crime, there doesn’t seem to be much progress in the hunt for a suspect.
That hasn’t stopped New York Governor Andrew Cuomo from promising a resolution.
As he said, “It’s part of this cancer that has been injected into this nation’s body that is about hate, and about separation and about fearing differences. It is repugnant to who we are, it is repugnant to what we believe. These are hate crimes. We will prosecute the person to the fullest extent of the law, I promise you.”
Cuomo has assigned the State Police Hate Crimes Task Force to assist the NYPD on this matter.
For each of them, this about more than just a note with a rude message on it.
As CNN reported , police have noted a 67% increase in hate crimes throughout the city within the past year.
In the case of anti-Semitic hate crimes, these range from assaults on citizens in traditional Hasidic clothing as seen above to Nazi iconography appearing in New York schoolyards.
In particular, the Jewish Children’s Museum has an unfortunate reason to take messages like the one discovered on the display seriously.
As The Hill reported , the museum had to be evacuated two years ago after somebody called in a bomb threat.
h/t: CNN
