Metro

School Vandalized

Harry Kirsbaum,
Staff Writer

swastika, a Jewish
teacher's name and
derogatory remarks were
spray-painted on the walls of
Bryant Middle School in Dearborn
on Jan. 6.
On Jan. 10 and 12, windows were
broken at the school, said Bryant's
principal, Marc Zigterman. The
graffiti incident is being treated as
a hate crime. ,
-"We still have not identified who
did this:' he said. "I gave the police
some names — all juveniles."
Bryant serves grades 6-8 and the
students are 10-14 years old.
The FBI is coordinating with
Dearborn Police on the matter, the
principal said. If juveniles are
involved, it no longer is a federal
crime. The FBI offered to come to
the school to give presentations to
the students, he said.
"I have a small number of stu-
dents who need to know that this is
not a joke, this is a crime, and ifs
not the kind of stuff you even kid
around about:' he said. "I have a
whole lot more students who don't
know what to make of it, and they
need to know they are safe here,
and that we do treat it seriously,
and we're not going to let it hap-
pen?'
The Anti-Defamation League,
Michigan Region, contacted the
school and the FBI When the
agency learned of the incident.
"Under normal circumstances, if
we hear about an incident and if it
is not reported to us and it just
involves an individual, we usually
do not try to track them down:' sad
Betsy Kellman, ADL regional direc-
tor. "If it involves an institution like
a school, governmental agency or
business, then we try to follow up.
We tried several times [to reach the
victim] and the victim was not
happy that we did."
The teacher wants to keep a low
profile, Zigterman said. "She told
me that her biggest concern is how
this affects the community, that we
not allow this kind of thing to go
on and become problematic, and
my sense is that she's pretty appre-
ciative of how we've been handling
things." ❑

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January 26 • 2006

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