(CNN) – Officials in the Jacksonville, Florida area condemned several anti-Semitic messages that appeared in public spaces this weekend of October 29, including one in a football stadium, on a freeway overpass and in a downtown building.
An anti-Semitic message referencing rapper Kanye West was seen scrolling outside TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville during the Georgia-Florida college football game, according to video recorded by a family member of WJXT reporter Vic Micolucci, affiliated with the CNN.
In the video, the words “Kanye is right about the Jews” can be seen scrolling outside the stadium structure, referring to recent anti-Semitic comments from rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West.
It’s horrifying to see someone projected an anti-Semitic message on TIAA Bank Field at the end of the sold out Georgia-Florida match. A relative sent it to me. It’s in reference to the comments Ye (formerly Kanye West) made recently.
This hatred must stop. Period. pic.twitter.com/kBKYUx7hIh
– Vic Micolucci WJXT (@WJXTvic) October 30, 2022
CNN contacted the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and TIAA Bank Field for comment.
It is unclear how the message was projected onto the stadium wall. It is also unclear how long the message was visible outside the stadium.
In other videos circulated on social media, the same message was also visible in at least one Jacksonville building on Saturday night.
And on Friday, October 28, the banners could also be seen from an overpass on Interstate 10 in Jacksonville, according to a tweet from a local reporter. They were also mentioned in a statement by Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried.
The banners said “End of Jewish supremacy in America” and “Horn if you know it’s Jews”.
The language in the messages being scrolled through Jacksonville mirrors the banners a group hung from a freeway overpass in Los Angeles last weekend that appeared to be saluting the Nazi.
Several officials condemned the messages in Sunday morning statements.
“The first step is to make sure you don’t normalize this behavior,” Fried said. “Don’t normalize anti-Semitic messages on the highway or elsewhere.”
The Northeast Florida Jewish Federation and Foundation has “condemned and outraged” at the multiple anti-Semitic events.
“We are turning our indignation into positive action. The Jewish Federation and Foundation has been in communication with the FBI, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and the St. Johns Sheriff’s Office. We will continue to work with them to ensure the safety of our community, “the group said in a statement.
“The rhetoric we have seen and heard over the past few weeks is bewildering and a frightening tactic. However, our biggest concern is that even one person sees this as a call to action and repeats what we saw in Pittsburgh exactly four years ago, “the Federation said.
Pittsburgh was the site of the deadliest attack on Jews on American soil, when a man stormed the Tree of Life synagogue on the morning of October 27, 2018, killing 11 people.
United States Representative John Rutherford, whose borough includes Jacksonville, said in a Twitter statement: “There is absolutely no place for this type of hatred in Florida. I continue to support the Jewish community in Jacksonville and across the country. “
