Teaneck is a town of roughly 40,000 in North Jersey, not more than a dozen miles from Manhattan and just a few miles from my family's 'home base.' It's also one of the most diverse towns in the state, if not the entire country. With significant populations of African Americans, Dominicans, Jamaicans, Puerto Ricans, Filipinos, Irish, Italians, Poles, Germans and Russians, as well as one of the largest Jewish communities in North America, one would think this would be one of the last places one would encounter a WiFi network named "F--- All Jews And N------" in the town's community center.
One would be wrong, unfortunately.
A bigot named their WiFi signal “F--- All Jews and N----” — and now cops are investigating.
The hateful signal I.D. popped up on the iPhone of a 28-year-old mom inside a Teaneck, N.J. recreation center, where her 3-year-old daughter was attending dance class.
The offending signal was coming from a router connected in the Richard Rodda Community Center in the the township, located 10 miles outside New York City.
Jump with me...
The Bergen Record reports...
TEANECK – Police are investigating a possible bias incident at the Richard Rodda Community Center, after they found a router using what they described as an “offensive” Wi-Fi name.
Police were notified of the incident on Tuesday afternoon, Capt. Glenn O’Reilly of the Teaneck police said Wednesday. [...]
O’Reilly said the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Computer Crimes Unit was assisting with the investigation.
Possible bias incident? Eh, well okay I guess they have to be careful during the investigatory stage, but still...
Yeah.
This follows a recent spate of disturbing attacks elsewhere throughout Bergen County, including last week's firebombing of a Rabbi's home in Rutherford, the spray-painting of swastikas in Fair Lawn, the synagogue arson in Paramus, the antisemitic vandalism in Maywood and Hackensack, amongst other recent incidents elsewhere throughout the state in Highland Park and Lakewood...
Teaneck Mayor Mohammed Hameeduddin (back to this town's amazing diversity: he's a 38-year old Muslim who was born in India) says -
"It's very disheartening that someone would put that out there. I was very concerned about these things coming to Teaneck. [...]
"We're going to work hard to find out who did it," said Hameeduddin, who became the first Muslim mayor of the town in 2010. "I don't know if this is organized."
Let's hope they find out soon. And make it clear shit like this don't fly, and never will. Stop the hate.