Police are investigating an incident in which Islamophobic and anti-Palestinian graffiti was discovered on a wall of Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, Maryland.
The message, which contained hateful rhetoric directed at Muslim and Palestinian communities, was discovered early Friday morning.
In a letter home to the school community, Whitman Principal Gregory Miller said the graffiti was “profoundly offensive” and that type of “hate speech is completely unacceptable, hurtful, and will not be tolerated at Walt Whitman High School or any school in Montgomery County.”
Miller added that school officials are working with police to review security camera footage and meet with students.
Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich said in a statement that the hateful act “does not reflect who we are as a County and will not be tolerated,” adding that the county police department is working with the school system to “find the perpetrators.”
At-Large Council member Will Jawando said in a post on social media the message is a “direct threat to the safety and well-being of our students.”
“As a parent of MCPS students and as Chair of the Education and Culture Committee, I find it unacceptable for any child to walk into a place of learning and be met with calls for the obliteration of their people or their faith,” Jawando said.
He added that his team is working with MCPS and local law enforcement to monitor the situation.
“It’s on each of us in Montgomery County to ensure that hate has no place here,” Council member Andrew Friedson added in a post.
The graffiti was quickly painted over Friday morning.
It’s not the first time hate speech has defaced the walls of the Bethesda high school. In 2022, antisemitic graffiti was spray painted onto the school’s entrance sign.
Anyone with information in the case is asked to contact the school administration, the police non-emergency line at 301-279-8000, or anonymously through the Maryland Safe Schools Tip-Line at 1-833-632-7233.
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