Vandalism at Jewish businesses in Pico-Robertson

The Los Angeles Police Department has been investigating cases of vandalism against six businesses in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood as possible hate crimes since Monday evening.

The majority of the destroyed stores were Jewish-owned, said Alain Cohen, owner of Got Kosher? Bakery.

On Tuesday morning, he received a call from his employees informing him that the store's glass facade had been shattered.

“I came right away, I saw it, I called the police,” he said, “and then I boarded the glass.”

“I later heard that this was also the case at five other stores on the same block,” Cohen said. “Someone is systematically targeting our type of company.

“It is clear that there is a connection when it happens in this particular bloc in this particular political and international situation,” he said.

The vandalism comes at a time when authorities have reported a rise in anti-Semitic incidents across the country since Hamas' attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 and Israel's military response. Last November, Los Angeles police opened an investigation into a protest at the Brentwood home of the president of a pro-Israel lobbying group, where demonstrators lit smoking devices on the street and sprayed fake blood on the property.

The Anti-Defamation League of California released a statement on the incident and said it was monitoring the situation.

Police arrived at the scene around 9:20 a.m. Tuesday, said David Cuellar, an LAPD spokesman.

“Officers located six to seven stores where vandalism occurred and the incident is being investigated as a hate crime,” Cuellar said. Most of these companies were Jewish-owned.

Despite rumors, there is no evidence of a shooting, Cuellar said. One building was broken into, the others were destroyed by broken glass and graffiti.

Officials believe the window smash may have been caused by a golf club or similar-shaped object, Cuellar said.

According to Cohen, the perpetrator was filmed by another company's surveillance camera but could not be identified from the photo.

“Like any Jewish business owner, I don’t feel safe. “We have been targeted since the beginning of time, specifically since Abraham,” Cohen said.

“We are being targeted and we need to stand up,” he said. “The Holocaust happened because people didn’t speak up.”