Police investigating “Hitler was right” sticker at Birmingham University
Birmingham University has condemned a sticker found on its campus which said “Hitler was right”, as police investigate the incident.
The image of the sticker was posted on Twitter by the university’s student education officer, Izzy Lenga. It shows an image of the Nazi leader with the anti-Semitic text, which was posted on campus.
In a tweet, she wrote: “And for those who don’t think anti-Semitism is a serious issue, these were plastered over campus on Tues[day]”.
The university immediately responded to the tweet by saying: “We condemn racist graffiti, have reported it to the police and are working with them to identify and catch those involved.”
West Midlands Police told Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) that the sticker was removed, and will be forensically examined to try and identify who was responsible.
Officers will also watch CCTV footage and speak to students to try and find out who was responsible.
Sergeant David Cotter told CAA: “We take reports of hate crime extremely seriously and are working closely with the university to make it a safe place for everyone who works and studies there. This kind of behaviour is offensive and completely unacceptable and our investigation to identify those responsible is already progressing.”
Deborah Walker, Head of Communications at the University of Birmingham told CAA: “We unreservedly condemn racist graffiti on campus. We have reported the matter to West Midlands Police and are working with them to identify those involved. Our University is a community of 150 nations and we are proud to be situated in a vibrant multi-cultural city. Discrimination of any kind will not be tolerated. We are therefore actively working with a range of groups to bring people together and ensure that our university is a place where diversity is celebrated and everyone plays their part in creating a vibrant and welcoming community.”
On Twitter, CST & and the Union of Jewish Students confirmed that the sticker had been found at Birmingham campus & was removed. Police are investigating.
CST told Jewish News: “CST’s initial understanding was that one ‘Hitler was right’ sticker was found at the university.. The Police assure us that they are investigating the matter.”
The Union of Jewish Students told Jewish News: “Our initial concern as always was for the safety and welfare of Jewish students in Birmingham and we have been working closely with CST and Birmingham Guild of Students in regards to this. The poster has also been reported to the police.
Birmingham has a thriving Jewish society… Jewish students will not let incidents like this hinder their experience on campus.”
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