An alumnus of New York University was taken into custody for affixing a banner bearing a pair of Nazi symbols alongside a Star of David atop a campus facility during commencement festivities, law enforcement officials announced Wednesday, according to the New York Daily News.
The 23-year-old suspect faces charges of criminal trespass as a hate crime, alongside counts of burglary and aggravated harassment. Authorities state he climbed the structure located at W. 4th Street near Greene Street in Greenwich Village to raise the display around 5:00 p.m. on May 13.
The banner, which was reportedly fashioned after the national flag of Israel, featured two swastikas, the official NYU logo, and the Star of David, according to police descriptions. The campus student publication, Washington Square News, identified the targeted location as the Steinhardt building - the center for the university's education programs, which bears the name of Jewish benefactors Judy and Michael Steinhardt.
Following the incident, the university administration formally lodged a hate-crime harassment complaint, NYPD officials stated.
Investigators apprehended the suspect on Tuesday afternoon after property surveillance cameras captured his presence inside the facility and on the rooftop during the timeframe the banner was unfurled, a criminal complaint detailed. Officers discovered that he utilized his personal NYU electronic access credential to navigate the premises.
When interrogated by investigators, the suspect conceded that he had manufactured the banner and hoisted it because certain students harbored anxieties regarding NYU’s institutional stances on Israel, according to an informed source close to the investigation.
Because the current charges do not qualify for bail under state law, the suspect was released from custody following a concise appearance in Manhattan Criminal Court late Tuesday.
The university expressed its appreciation for the police department’s “exhaustive work and for the efforts of the Manhattan District Attorney in identifying the person responsible for this heinous crime."
“The symbols that were represented are antisemitic and hateful to every person of conscience; this appalling act violated our sense of community and solidarity," Wiley Norvell, NYU senior vice president for university relations and public affairs said, as quoted by the New York Daily News. “In addition to criminal proceedings, we will immediately pursue our disciplinary procedures, which carry the most severe consequences."
New York University is one of many campuses across the US which have seen a surge in antisemitic activities since the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel and the war in Gaza which followed.
In July of 2024, NYU settled a lawsuit by Jewish students who accused the school of failing to stop antisemitism on campus.