Delaware News

Suspect charged with hate crime following UD vandalism 

Department of Justice | Department of Justice Press Releases | News | Date Posted: Monday, May 13, 2024


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Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust worked with UD Police Department 

A University of Delaware student, who has since been banned from campus, now faces three misdemeanor charges, including Hate Crime, after vandalizing a Holocaust memorial sponsored by a Jewish student group and going on an antisemitic tirade.

On the evening of May 8, officers from the University of Delaware Police Department arrested Jenna Kandeel, 23, after witnesses reported that she had damaged several flags at a Holocaust memorial on the UD Green and made vulgar statements about the Jewish community and the Holocaust.  Kandeel later admitted the vandalism to police officers who took her into custody.

“We have a proud history of protecting free speech in this country, including and especially political dissent,” said Attorney General Kathy Jennings. “But we need to be lucid enough to recognize the daylight — miles of it, in this case — between protest and hate. The Holocaust is not ancient history. 80 years later, the world’s Jewish population still has not recovered; its survivors are still with us; and I fear that we still have not learned its lessons. Seeing this ignorance on display, particularly in an increasingly antisemitic climate, should be a wake-up call. We still have work to do.”

Kandeel is charged with Hate Crime, Criminal Mischief, and Disorderly Conduct, all of which are misdemeanors.

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Suspect charged with hate crime following UD vandalism 

Department of Justice | Department of Justice Press Releases | News | Date Posted: Monday, May 13, 2024


Navy blue background featuring the Delaware state seal in the center

Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust worked with UD Police Department 

A University of Delaware student, who has since been banned from campus, now faces three misdemeanor charges, including Hate Crime, after vandalizing a Holocaust memorial sponsored by a Jewish student group and going on an antisemitic tirade.

On the evening of May 8, officers from the University of Delaware Police Department arrested Jenna Kandeel, 23, after witnesses reported that she had damaged several flags at a Holocaust memorial on the UD Green and made vulgar statements about the Jewish community and the Holocaust.  Kandeel later admitted the vandalism to police officers who took her into custody.

“We have a proud history of protecting free speech in this country, including and especially political dissent,” said Attorney General Kathy Jennings. “But we need to be lucid enough to recognize the daylight — miles of it, in this case — between protest and hate. The Holocaust is not ancient history. 80 years later, the world’s Jewish population still has not recovered; its survivors are still with us; and I fear that we still have not learned its lessons. Seeing this ignorance on display, particularly in an increasingly antisemitic climate, should be a wake-up call. We still have work to do.”

Kandeel is charged with Hate Crime, Criminal Mischief, and Disorderly Conduct, all of which are misdemeanors.

image_printPrint


Graphic that represents delaware news on a mobile phone

Keep up to date by receiving a daily digest email, around noon, of current news release posts from state agencies on news.delaware.gov.

Here you can subscribe to future news updates.