Majority Leader Schumer Floor Remarks On Antisemitic Vandalism Committed Against Brooklyn Museum Leadership In New York

Washington, D.C. – Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) today spoke on the Senate floor on the disturbing acts of antisemitic vandalism committed at the homes of leadership of the Brooklyn Museum in New York. Below are Senator Schumer’s remarks, which can also be viewed here:

I come to the floor this morning sick to my stomach and profoundly disturbed by pictures that were shared with me this morning of yet another antisemitic act in New York.

A few hours ago, the Director of the Brooklyn Museum and several members of the Board of Directors had their homes vandalized with revolting antisemitic images, with images of fake blood – with symbolism used by Hamas.

I have a picture of some of the vandalism right here, outside the home of one of the directors. This is not New York. This is not America. And we must confront this bigotry and vicious intolerance with courage, with perseverance.

Every single American needs to see this. This is a home of a woman on the Board of Directors. It has her name, it says Brooklyn Museum, and then it says white supremacist Zionist, and her home is smeared with blood. Every single American needs to see this. This is the face of hatred. Jewish Americans made to feel unsafe in their own home – just because they are Jewish.

This is not even close to free speech. This is intimidation. It is scapegoating. It is dehumanization. Invasive attacks loaded with the threat of looming violence. It is vile. It is nasty. It is un-American.

And sadly, this kind of evil is something every Jew on Earth can recognize in an instant.

Images like this remind us of evils our families endured generations ago, evils that paved the way for unimaginable violence. I cannot believe we’re seeing this here in America, here in New York.

Targeting someone for simply being Jewish, smearing their front door with fake blood, and calling them a white supremacists is beyond the pale. Vandalism like this is a crime and should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

And it sickens me that, of all the targets these antisemites could have chosen, it was the leadership of the Brooklyn Museum. The Brooklyn Museum is deeply concerned with issues of social justice, I would say more than most museums. Its doors are always open to all.

I have visited the Brooklyn Museum many times with my children and my grandchildren. I’ve spoken at their great First Saturday events. I’ve even voted there.

The best antidote to for the poison of ignorance is of course knowledge, and that is precisely what we find in our museums: knowledge.

These images break my heart. They fill me with both deep grief and profound anger. I condemn the actions of those who smeared these hateful images against the leadership of the Brooklyn Museum. The perpetrators must be held accountable for this hateful vandalism.

These hateful actions, make no mistake about it, do nothing – nothing – at all to advance the cause these individuals profess to care about.

Again: this is not New York. This is not America. And we must confront this intolerance and bigotry with courage, with perseverance, and with common cause with all those who wish to promote tolerance and acceptance here in America.

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