Pittsburgh man accused of antisemitic vandalism reaches settlement
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — The former city of Pittsburgh employee accused of defacing a woman's sidewalk with antisemitic graffiti has reached an agreement with her over that and other incidents.
With antisemitic incidents on the rise, Jewish organizations are applauding a settlement with Mario Ashkar requiring the former city employee to perform community service with a Jewish non-profit organization.
What happened?
In the wake of the Hamas attack on Israel in October of last year, Jewish organizations say they've seen an alarming spike in antisemitism, including Nazi Germany-era graffiti scrawled on the sidewalk of a Jewish woman's home on the North Side.
On Monday, sources confirmed that Askar, the former city employee and perpetrator of this action, reached a settlement with the woman, agreeing to one year of probation and 20 hours of community service with a Jewish nonprofit.
A judge must still approve the agreement, but the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh applauded the proposed deal.
"As long as education with this individual about why these actions were harmful, that's important to us," Laura Cherner of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.
The settlement comes in the wake of separate vandalism at the federation and at Chabad in Squirrel Hill. The federation is calling for accountability.
"Accountability is incredibly important," Cherner said. "One of the things we can't do is just because we see antisemitism on the rise is to normalize it."
Just last week, a sign was defaced with graffiti accusing the Jewish Federation of "funding genocide in Gaza." The investigation into that continues.