NJ Cemetery Vandalism Caused by 4 Teens

A week and a half ago, hundreds of headstones at the Poile Zedek Cemetery in New Brunswick, NJ were toppled over, raising concerns that the Jewish cemetery had been targeted in a possible hate crime. Yesterday, when four teens, a 15-year-old, two 16-year-olds, and a 17-year-old, were arrested, Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan said that the investigation so far did not suggest this "was an attempt to intimidate, target or harm the Jewish community."

The Star-Ledger had a straightforwardly depressing explanation of the events:

Authorities said three of the teens first struck on New Year's Day, toppling 17 headstones. Three days later, they re turned with the fourth friend and systematically upended row after row of the granite stones, some weighing more than a ton. Kaplan said it took the teens up to four hours to complete the desecration.

When it was done, 499 stones, many of them cracked or broken, littered the cemetery's gently sloping grounds off Joyce Kilmer Avenue.

It may cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to repair the gravestones, leading to the creation of a Cemetery Restoration fund. Congregation Poile Zedek' s Rabbi Abraham Mykoff said, "We have some solace in the fact that they were apprehended, and moved by the support and empathy we've received from Jews, Christians and Muslims."

The teens are in a juvenile detention facility; each was charged with "criminal mischief, desecration of venerated objects and conspiracy to commit desecration." And here's an audio slideshow of the damage - it's pretty disturbing.

Image from 1010 WINS

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By Jen Chung in News on January 11, 2008 8:48 AM

Comments [rss]

Muscley Armed Paper Boy

Since when do kids nowadays have the attention span to spend four hours on ANYTHING, let alone something as monotonous as pushing over big rocks? I hope it was worth it for them now that they're getting raped in juvee (hopefully).

Spirit of 76

You have to hit the parents. These kids don't have any money, and sure as hell not enough to cover the hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage. Given their future prospects, they won't ever have enough money.

Dave Hogarty

Full financial restitution no matter how long it takes, full involvement in physically repairing the damage, and then they can serve whatever sentences the court hands out behind bars.

VanessaNYC

I also agree with CR. Good punishment.

virgil

It would also be nice if they had to go around to every school in the city and explain to little kids exactly why they did it. Over and over.

virgil

What CR said, and well worth the accidental reposting. A perfect punishment for the crime.

Elderta

These nimwits should be made to not only pay for the headstones, but to put them back up one at time, with no help whatsover. As to the cracked ones, someone teach them how to engrave stone and make them engrave new ones. At least they'll have some sort of skill set when they get thrown in jail for longer sentences for other crimes.

CR

The kids should be fully involved in the restoration process. Everyday after school, and every weekend until it's finished.

CR

The kids should be fully involved in the restoration process. Everyday after school, and every weekend until it's finished.

CR

The kids should be fully involved in the restoration process. Everyday after school, and every weekend until it's finished.

burgerdeluxe

I'd love to know the backgrounds of these little twerps. Something tells me it's a bunch of spoiled rich white kids with absentee parents.

SikBug

They should lay the kids behind a giant tomb stone and then knock it over on them... 499 times.

chuzzlewit

the kids should have to pay for 100% of the damage.

Spirit of 76

Their parents should have to pay for at least some of the damage. If you don't raise your kids to know the difference between right and wrong, any injury they inflict on society reflects on your poor parenting.