16-year-old Carmel High School student faces felony charge over antisemitic graffiti

A Carmel High School student was arrested last week for making antisemitic graffiti at the high school.

School staff and students found a swastika and "Adolf Hitler" scratched into the tennis courts at the high school a month before. The Putnam County Sheriff's Department interviewed staff and students and reviewed video before identifying a suspect.

On Oct. 20, a 16-year-old student turned themselves in and was arrested for first-degree aggravated harassment, a felony. The student is due to appear in Putnam County Family Court.

Last winter, the Carmel school district and law enforcement faced criticism from families over the handling of racist, threatening videos posted by students on TikTok.

In forums the district hosted with parents to talk through concerns, parents shared racist and antisemitic incidents their kids experience in Carmel schools: being called the n-word and monkeys, being told to sit at the back of the bus, a Jewish student being told to "burn in the ovens" and encountering swastikas.

Contact Diana Dombrowski at ddombrowski@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @domdomdiana.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Carmel NY high schooler arrested for carving swastika in tennis court