‘No place in Irvine’ for Hate, Mayor Khan Says after Second Anti-Semitic Banner Incident
By Alicia Robinson
After the second instance this month of people hanging banners with White supremacist messages from freeway overpasses in Irvine, Mayor Farrah Khan is seeking to unite the community to reject anti-Semitism.
In the latest incident, which apparently happened over the weekend, a large cloth banner was hung above the 405 at Jeffrey Road, according to social media posts. The banner referenced “White replacement” as well as communism, “the virus,” the ADL (Anti-Defamation League) and Jews; it also said “Mayor Khan’s mosque agrees.” (Khan is Muslim.)
Khan said Monday she found the banner disturbing, adding, “when you’re actually physically out there sending messages of hate, especially the anti-Semitism that’s in these banners, it’s not trolling.
“This is scary, especially for individuals that are Jewish,” she said.
Similarly, about two weeks ago, banners were put up over the 405 near Culver Drive; one read “Honk if White lives matter” and another referred to several Jewish organizations and the Hart-Cellar Act, a 1965 law that eliminated previous immigration quotas based on national origin.
Khan said she’s proud of the diverse community where she lives and wants to ensure people feel safe there. She said Irvine police are investigating both banner incidents.
She also responded in a Twitter post Monday, saying, “The continued racist and xenophobic attacks on the color of my skin and the communities I represent are more than a disagreement in leadership. No banner of any size will distract our work of peace, unity and inclusiveness. I will not back down to cowards. Hatred has no place in Irvine!”
A report released in September found hate incidents and hate crimes reported in Orange County rose for the sixth straight year in 2020. Last month, state Attorney General Rob Bonta visited Santa Ana and other large cities around California to offer local leaders help in combating hate crimes, which also have risen statewide. – Courtesy The Orange County Register
