Dallas City Councilwoman's home vandalized with "hateful graffiti"
DALLAS - A Dallas City Councilwoman says her property was defaced with graffiti over the weekend.
District 12's Cara Mendelsohn posted photos to social media showing graffiti spraypainted on her home's fence.
Mendelsohn says she believes she was targeted because she is Jewish.
"Do you wonder if this really happens?" Mendelsohn said on social media. "I'm a Jewish elected official in Dallas and yesterday my home was defaced with hateful language and red triangles representing Palestine."
Mendelsohn said a pile of rocks and bricks representing "fake dead babies" were also left at her home.
"It's unimaginable to me how our country has changed in the last 40 years," the councilwoman wrote. "Folks, you're going to need to stop sitting on the sidelines thinking everything will be ok. Things are not ok."
The Anti-Defamation League says anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S. have more than tripled since the Israel-Hamas war began last year.
"I fully support everybody's right to speak up, to have a voice, protest, but there's a big difference between that and criminal activity, which is what happened," Mendelsohn said to CBS News Texas on Monday.
Dallas mayor Eric Johnson released a statement saying the graffiti was not an act of protest, but blatant anti-Semitism.
"This shameful attempt to harass, bully, and intimidate a member of our City Council at her home is disgusting and reprehensible," wrote Johnson. "This was not an act of protest — it was blatant Antisemitism. I want to extend my deepest sympathies to Councilmember Mendelsohn, her family, and the entire Dallas Jewish community. Dallas will not tolerate hate, and I trust that the Dallas Police Department and our law enforcement partners will act swiftly to identify those responsible and take steps to protect our community."
The Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum condemned the act.
"This is part of a horrendous worldwide surge in antisemitism which has particularly and cruelly targeted Jewish students in our secondary schools and colleges in the U.S.," the museum said in a statement. "Democracy depends on the peaceful engagement of all its citizens. We must safeguard our democracy and ensure that no one is targeted for their religious or political beliefs or for fulfilling their duties as elected officials."
CBS News Texas reached out to the Dallas Police Department but has not heard back yet.