Four students were arrested Tuesday on felony charges after hundreds of posters targeted toward members of the university, including members of the Jewish faculty, as wanted were plastered across the University of Rochester campus in upstate New York last week, an antisemitic act the school’s president told CNN “would not be tolerated.”
Jefferson Turcios, Samantha Escobar, Naomi Gutierrez and Jonathan Bermudez were each charged with one count of felony criminal mischief, according to the charging documents obtained by CNN. They pleaded not guilty Wednesday, according to CNN affiliate WHAM.
CNN is working to determine their legal representation.
A fifth suspect continues to be investigated, according to University Public Safety Chief Quchee Collins.
“While I regret that this deeply disturbing incident took place on our campus, I am incredibly satisfied that through a thorough investigation we were able to identify those who are allegedly responsible and hold them accountable for the deliberate and deplorable actions targeted toward members of our University community, including members of our Jewish population,” said Collins.
The incident was investigated as a possible hate crime but law enforcement authorities assessed that the vandalism incident did not meet the legal terms for being a hate crime, according to Collins.
The status could change over the course of the legal proceedings, he said.
The posters criticized faculty members for their alleged response to the war in Gaza. One poster accused a faculty member of “ethnic cleansing” and “displacement of Palestinians.” A different poster accused another faculty member of “racism,” “hate speech” and intimidation.
“I want to be as clear as I can that the University of Rochester strongly denounces the recent display of ‘Wanted’ posters targeting senior University leaders and members of our faculty, staff, and Board of Trustees,” university President Sarah Mangelsdorf said in a statement Tuesday. “This act is disturbing, divisive and intimidating and runs counter to our values as a university.”
The students were caught on the school’s CCTV cameras and were charged for damaging the school’s property, the charging documents read.
The posters were glued to chalkboards and whiteboards with strong adhesive that damaged the surface of the boards, and in some cases the wall underneath, according to the documents.
The damaged boards will need to be replaced, and the walls will need resurfacing and painting, the documents say.
The Department of Public Safety removed the posters, Collins said last week, adding the process was “painstaking.”
One of the targets of the vandalism, Gregory Heyworth, associate professor of English and computer science, told CNN in an email last week he was grateful to the university for its public stance and for the president’s “clear condemnation of the antisemitism of the posters.”
Heyworth said he “was accused of ‘threatening to dox’ protesting students, in a poster that actually committed the offense of doxing.”
The professor noted the hypocrisy of the vandals, “their willingness to push the boundaries of anti-democratic behavior and infringe on free-speech – to lie, distort, and propagandize – while relying upon those same democratic values for cover.”
Since Hamas’ attack on Israel October 7, 2023, and the ensuing war in Gaza, statements from students, professors and administrators related to the conflict have inflamed college campuses across the United States.
Tensions in the Middle East rage on, with Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza yielding a dire humanitarian crisis while stoking global advocacy from supporters of Israel and Palestinians, many in support of a ceasefire.
The University of Rochester’s Hillel organization, which represents Jewish students, called the posters “deeply disturbing” in a statement to CNN last week and said its director was one of the targets, as were Jewish faculty and staff, but no students.
The organization called the incident “an opportunity for the University to reflect on what is needed to instill meaningful education about Jewish Peoplehood and antisemitism, so that UR is a place where Jewish life can fully and safely thrive.”
The executive director of the Hillel, Joy Getnick, said the group appreciated the quick investigation by the university and law enforcement.
“These deeply disturbing posters spread harmful antisemitic ideas about the Jewish people and Israel in an attempt to sow fear,” Getnick told CNN on Wednesday. “We hope this is an opportunity for the University to reflect on what is needed to ensure UR is a place where Jewish life can fully and safely thrive.”
This is not the first incident that included targeting the university’s Jewish community. Swastikas and antisemitic language written on the River Campus tunnel walls were discovered in February, according to the university. The Department of Public Safety promptly removed the “harmful symbols and words,” the university said.
The tunnels where the “disturbing discovery” was made are used by students to share news about activities on campus and to express the university’s multicultural identity, according to a news release.
“I’m just tired. It’s been a long year and I want peace desperately, but doing things like this, targeting faculty, administration and staff to intimidate them and spread hate while also just making more work for the maintenance staff is wrong,” a Jewish student at the University of Rochester, who declined to be identified, fearing retribution, told CNN last week.
“Yesterday we were scared and worried,” the student said. “Today we work towards understanding and peace.”
Another Jewish student, who also declined to be identified, fearing retribution, said they discovered the posters around 10 p.m. on November 10.
“When I first saw this, I was horrified and upset,” the student said.
This story has been updated with additional information.