Over 100 headstones in Chesed Shel Emeth Society Jewish Cemetery, located in University City, Missouri, were subject to vandalism or property destruction over the past week. The destruction comes as a rash of threats against Jewish Community Centers around the nation occur, and in a state where threats against the Jewish community have been far too frequent.
The rapid rise of threats toward Jewish Community Centers has led to direct statements from the White House, Governors, and even Ivanka Trump.
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In all, 48 JCCs in 26 states and one Canadian province received nearly 60 bomb threats during January, according to the JCCA, an association of JCCs. Most were made in rapid succession on three days: January 9, 18 and 31. A number of JCCs, including Orlando's, received multiple threats.
On Monday, another wave of bomb threats hit 11 JCCs across the country, bringing the total to 69 incidents targeting 54 JCCs in 27 states, according to the JCCA.
These threats against JCC’s aren’t new, especially in the Missouri area. In 2014, a failed Republican Senate Candidate lashed out in a shooting spree which crossed state lines into the Overland Park JCC.
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Cross, 74,
was charged with killing William Lewis Corporon, 69, and his 14-year-old grandson, Reat Griffin Underwood, at a Jewish community center in a suburb near Kansas City. He was also accused of murdering Terri LaManno, 53, at the nearby Village Shalom Retirement Community.
Missouri, in particular, has struggled with the issue.
Last year, I covered the rise of attacks on those of Jewish faith here on Daily Kos.
Eric Grietens, the Republican governor of Missouri, has denounced the action in public.
While an unabashed Tea Party conservative, Greitens faced blowback in his own run for governor in Missouri as an outside challenger, Lester Turilli, an independent who ran a campaign with at least a little insinuation that the state would be better off not electing someone of Jewish faith.
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On his campaign website, Turilli notes that he “may be the only gubernatorial candidate who has surrounded himself with a prayer team which prays daily for revival in the state.”
“His genuine love for the people of Missouri is second only to his love for God. He approaches the gubernatorial race with a commitment to positive campaigning, integrity, and social justice,” the site notes.
“We believe the Bible and Christianity should be an integral part of curriculum development for its literary content, moral compass, and historical contribution to our nation and other world cultures,” the site notes.
Now, Missouri faces an outrage, and America wonders: is this part of Making American Great Again?