(KRON) — An incident in which shellfish were deposited on the premises and thrown in the window of a Jewish fraternity house on the UC Berkeley campus may not have been deliberately antisemitic, according to the university. Assistant Vice Chancellor of UC Berkeley Dan Mogulof cited new details around the incident that suggested it might not have been targeted.
Initial reports suggested AEPi was the only frat targeted. However, similar acts of vandalism involving the deposit of shellfish may have occurred at multiple fraternities, according to Mogulof.
The shellfish left at AEPi House were crayfish, which are a type of shellfish forbidden under the body of Jewish law relating to food.
“By singling out AEPi, the Jewish fraternity, and deliberately employing non-kosher food, this act of vandalism goes beyond mere destruction,” the fraternity posted on its Instagram page. “It represents a calculated decision to target Jewish students within our campus community.”
UC Berkeley said the incident was still under investigation and that all the details had yet to emerge. But Mogulof specified that members of AEPi were “understandably upset to see what appeared to be a targeted attack on their Jewish religious and cultural traditions.”
“To be clear, regardless of the facts as they unfold, we understand that members of AEPi experienced this as an antisemitic attack and in conversations that have been had with AEPi leaders, that sense of harm was very evident,” said Mogulof.
The Berkeley Police Department told NewsNation affiliate KRON it was investigating the incident as a hate crime.