Dead Pig Found Outside Rabbi's Home; Cops Call It Bias Crime

A dead pig was found outside the door of a rabbi at the heavily orthodox township of Lakewood in New Jersey.

The carcass was found over the Jewish Sabbath, prompting the local police to treat the incident as a bias crime. The incident occurred at 7 a.m. Saturday, during the weekly Jewish Shabbos that began at sunset Friday, The New York Post reported.

According to Judaism, pigs are quintessentially unkosher animals and have long been viewed as an anti-Semitic symbol.

Lakewood Police Lt. Leroy Marshall told the outlet that the probe is on into the bias crime but no arrests have been made as of midday Monday. Lakewood Scoop, which first reported the incident, said no notes were attached and no injuries were reported during the incident either.

According to the New York Post, Marshall declined to identify the rabbi, citing an ongoing investigation. Lakewood Police Chief Greg Meyer told Lakewood Scoop that detectives from the agency were being assisted by the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office crime scene investigations unit.

The Anti-Defamation League officials denounced the act in a statement late Saturday. "The alleged incident that took place in Lakewood on Saturday is absolutely horrifying,” said Scott Richman, regional director for the ADL’s New York/New Jersey office.

“No individual or group deserves to be targeted in this way. ADL has been deeply concerned by the rising tide of antisemitism in Ocean County, and this matter is no exception. We are thankful that Lakewood PD is continuing their investigation,” he added.

In a tweet posted soon after the incident, the ADL officials also requested people to share any information with Law Enforcement so that those responsible can be apprehended.

"This incident is beyond horrifying & should be condemned by all. We’re glad @Lakewood_PD is investigating as an “apparent bias crime”. Please share any information with Law Enforcement so that those responsible can be apprehended," ADL tweeted.

Lakewood is home to a large ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, and its Beth Medrash Govoha is the biggest in the United States. It has also been on the radar of the Anti-Defamation League in recent months.

Jews in the U.S. suffered the largest number of anti-Semitic incidents in 2019 since the Anti-Defamation League began collecting records 40 years ago, the racism watchdog said in a report that it released in May. Reuters, which quoted the report, stated that 2107 anti-Semitic incidents recorded in 2019 in the U.S. included deadly attacks by gunmen at a California Synagogue and a New Jersey kosher grocery store, and a fatal stabbing at a rabbi’s home in New York.