Florida Sees Three Antisemitic Incidents in One Week as State Pushes Back

Communities in Florida’s Jupiter and West Palm Beach saw three acts of antisemitic intimidation last week, part of a trend of hate targeting local Jews this year as the state government moves to respond forcefully.

At the Jupiter Civic Center Beach, a vandal used bright orange spray-paint to write “Kill Jews” on two beach crossovers, according to a report from WPTV, West Palm Beach’s NBC affiliate, which confirmed two instances of the genocidal slogan vandalized in the town, both on government property. Each case of vandalism has been covered up, though not fully removed, according to video footage.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office also said that its Targeted Violence Unit was investigating a “suspicious call” at a Kosher restaurant in West Palm Beach.

“You don’t know who that individual is who’s going to take it upon themselves to act and move beyond words,” Josephine Gon, executive director of the Palm Beach Center to Combat Antisemitism and Hatred with the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County, warned WPTV in an interview. “That’s what is so serious right now. It’s a very fertile environment for bad actors.”

Florida has seen multiple efforts in recent weeks and months to counter those who target Jewish citizens.

On Dec. 8, Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order designating the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Muslim Brotherhood as “foreign terrorist organizations.”

“Florida agencies are hereby directed to undertake all lawful measures to prevent unlawful activities by these organizations, including denying privileges or resources to anyone providing material support,” DeSantis said of the designations on social media.

CAIR-National and CAIR-Florida responded in a joint statement.

“From the moment Ron DeSantis took office as Florida governor, he has prioritized serving the Israeli government over serving the people of Florida,” the statement read. “He hosted his very first official cabinet meeting in Israel. He diverted millions in Florida taxpayer dollars to the Israeli government’s bonds. He threatened to shut down every Florida college’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter, only to back off when CAIR sued him in federal court.”

CAIR compared DeSantis to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (whose state also designated the group as a terrorist organization this year), describing him as “an Israel First politician who wants to smear and silence Americans, especially American Muslims, critical of US support for Israel’s war crimes.”

On Dec. 15, CAIR announced the filing of a lawsuit against DeSantis in response to the terrorism designation.

The legal system in Florida has prosecuted several individuals accused of antisemitic acts this year.

In October, Florida state Attorney General James Uthmeier announced the arrest and prosecution of Nicholas Ray of Spring, Texas who allegedly had made death threats under a ​​”zionistarescum” X account against Jews he believed responsible for the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk the prior month.

In August, John Kevin Lapinski, Jr., 41, received a 25-year federal prison sentence from US District Judge Rodney Smith in Miami due to his terrorist plans to attack Jewish Americans and Black Americans in Florida. US Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones said at the time that “this defendant stockpiled weapons, tactical gear, and detailed attack plans to terrorize Jewish and Black Americans in our communities. His intent was not abstract — it was written on his maps, his targets, and his so-called hit list.”

Also in August, police charged a Florida State University (FSU) graduate student for an alleged assault of a Jewish peer captured on video.

In April, the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism announced it had found that Phoenix Ikner, 21, the alleged attacker behind a shooting at Florida State University (FSU) in Tallahassee which caused two deaths and six injuries, had expressed an interest in Nazism, using Third Reich terminology to name himself in online games.

“What we’re seeing — if in fact this individual has extremist views, and it seems at the very least he was exposed to extremism — is the continued crossover between extremism and the glorification of violence that eventually leads to violence,” said Carla Hill, a senior director of investigative research at the ADL’s Center on Extremism

A hearing for Ikner occurred on Nov. 13 in Tallahassee. His trial has been pushed back to March 30 due to a change of counsel.