All three of the leading Democratic contenders hoping to replace retiring Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI) condemned two antisemitic incidents targeting Chabad at Michigan State University this week, during the first days of Hanukkah. 

The first incident took place on Tuesday night when an individual “intentionally threw a rock” through a window of the Chabad Jewish Student Center at MSU in Lansing, Rabbi Kasriel Shemtov, executive director of Chabad Lubavitch of Michigan, told Jewish Insider. 

The following night, swastikas and the words “he’s back” were spray painted on the door of the same building. No one was in the building at the time of either incident. Law enforcement officials have confirmed that both incidents are being investigated as hate crimes.

The incidents, which occurred days after a mass shooting at a Hanukkah celebration in Australia left 15 dead — including a Chabad rabbi — prompted quick statements of condemnation from Democratic Senate candidates looking to replace Peters: Rep. Haley Stevens (D-MI), state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and Abdul El-Sayed, a Bernie Sanders-endorsed progressive candidate. 

In a statement to JI, Stevens said, “Acts of blatant antisemitism, like what we just saw at Michigan State, are unacceptable in Michigan and everywhere else. Jewish students at MSU — and all our universities — deserve to feel safe on campus. We must ensure our campuses are free of harassment and violence targeting the Jewish community.”

McMorrow, whose husband is the former president of MSU Hillel, told JI that the “safety of Jewish students on our campuses and in our communities is something that hits home for us…  I know how much this matters to our family and to this community.”

El-Sayed wrote on X, “Antisemitic violence like this has no place in Michigan. We stand together with our Jewish sisters and brothers against antisemitism and hate in all forms.” 

Sens. Gary Peters (D-MI) and Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) also denounced the incidents, as did university officials.

“I condemn the vile antisemitic crime targeted at MSU’s Chabad Jewish Center. This hatred has no place in Michigan or anywhere else. My thoughts are with the Jewish community and the MSU campus during this time that should be filled with light not hate,” Peters wrote on X. 

Slotkin said, “As we see a rise in deadly acts of antisemitism around the world, this must be condemned left, right and center. Anti-semitism can start small and grow into something ever more dangerous.”

In a campus wide email, MSU President Kevin Guskiewicz wrote, “In the wake of unspeakable violence committed against the Jewish community in Australia, I was deeply troubled to learn of multiple incidents of antisemitism near our own campus in the form of vandalism against the university community’s Chabad Jewish Center. That this occurred during Hanukkah — a time centered on light, resilience and faith — only deepens the pain and concern felt by many.”