28 | AUGUST 12 • 2021 

rise in hate crimes and rise in 
antisemitism,
” she said. “I cre-
ated a Hate Crimes Division 
to target actions that were 
biased-related, motivated by 
hate against certain groups. 
 “Little did I know that soon 
we would have to expand the 
division to Hate Crimes and 
Domestic Terrorism. I’m proud 
that our department is charging 
cases against these extremist 
groups that traffic in hate.
”
McDonald said, “We are in a 
disturbing moment” about the 
increase in antisemitic incidents 
in Oakland County over the last 
four years. The Hate Crimes 
Unit she established has “a ded-
icated prosecutor” determining 
whether reported crimes are 
racially or ethnically motivated. 
“We are spending money to 
teach officers to recognize what 
is a hate crime, when a crime 
has that dimension.
” 

Defeating domestic terror-
ism is an urgent matter for 
Nessel, among several speakers 
who referenced the storming 
of the state capital building 
in Lansing on April 30, 2020. 
State Sen. Jeremy Moss, the 
only Jewish member of the 
Michigan Senate, decried that 
lessons “weren’t learned” from 
the armed “mini-insurrection,
” 
which foreshadowed the vio-
lent breach of the U.S. Capitol 
Building on Jan. 6. 
“
Antisemitism was there on 
that day,
” recalled Rep. Haley 
Stevens (11th Congressional 
District). 
Discussing voting rights, 
Nessel said the issue at stake is 
“not only to uphold the right to 
vote but to uphold the integrity 
of our electoral systems in its 
entirety. We must hold respon-
sible elected officials who are 
opponents of fair elections.
” 

Gov. Whitmer and Rep. 
Debbie Dingell (12th District) 
were among those paying 
tribute to the late Sen. Carl 
Levin, who died on July 29. 
Katie Costello brought greet-
ings on behalf of his nephew, 
Rep. Andy Levin (9th District). 
Also addressing the audi-
ence were Rep. Elissa Slotkin 
(8th District), Rep. Brenda 
Lawrence (14th District), 
co-chair of the Congressional 
Caucus of Black-Jewish 
Relations, and state Rep. 

Samantha Steckloff (37th 
District), the only Jewish mem-
ber of Michigan’s House.
“It was so inspiring to hear 
from the mostly women politi-
cians,” said Leah Klein of West 
Bloomfield after the event. “I 
really appreciated the emphasis 
on working against hatred — 
especially antisemitism.” 
Her daughter, Rebecca 
Berenbon, said, “I’m really 
proud of Michigan Democrats 
for talking about not just how 
we can fight hate against Jews, 
but how we as Jews can fight 
hate against all people.
”
Michelle Zukowski-Serlin of 
Kalamazoo said, “We always 
hear about antisemitism and 
the terrible things happening. 
That’s why it’s so important that 
the Democratic Jewish Caucus 
is really successful. People need 
to realize that we need to go 
forward.
” 

OUR COMMUNITY

continued from page 27

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