Antisemitic images and writings turned up spray-painted on the asphalt near the multi-purpose room at Brookside Elementary School in San Anselmo over the weekend, prompting a hate-crime investigation by local police. Officers with the Central Marin Police Authority responded to the campus Saturday and documented and photographed the graffiti before school officials removed it from the pavement.
According to CBS News, police were unable to remove the vandalism themselves, leaving the task to school staff. Investigators believe the vandalism occurred sometime between the end of the school day Friday and when officers responded to the report, though as of Sunday no suspects had been identified. Brookside Elementary serves roughly 275 students from transitional kindergarten through fifth grade, one of four elementary campuses in the Ross Valley School District that covers San Anselmo and Fairfax.
Police Pledge Accountability as Probe Continues
In a statement, police said there is no place for hatred, intimidation, or violence based on race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, or any other characteristic, per the same CBS News account. The agency added that it is committed to protecting every resident, holding offenders accountable, and working with community members to ensure everyone feels safe, respected, and welcome.
Witnesses with information have been asked to contact Detective Josh Hamilton at 415-927-5150. The Central Marin Police Authority, formed in 2013 under a joint powers agreement, provides consolidated police services for roughly 35,000 residents across San Anselmo, Corte Madera, and Larkspur, according to the Central Marin Police Authority.
Not the First Hate Incident on a Ross Valley Campus
This is not the first time a swastika has appeared on Ross Valley School District property. In June 2023, a swastika was found spray-painted on asphalt outside Wade Thomas Elementary School in San Anselmo, sparking a hate-crime investigation, as reported by J. Weekly. Hoodline also previously reported that in July 2023, plastic bags containing antisemitic flyers were scattered across driveways in neighboring Larkspur and Corte Madera, both within Central Marin Police Authority's jurisdiction, with police forwarding evidence to county prosecutors in that earlier flyer incident.
The Marin County District Attorney's Office maintains a dedicated hate crime policy and regularly holds community forums with local police chiefs on investigating and prosecuting bias-motivated offenses, according to the Marin County District Attorney's Office. Should investigators ultimately tie the Brookside vandalism to a hate crime enhancement, California Penal Code Section 594.3 makes vandalizing a religious educational facility a felony punishable by up to three years in prison when committed to intimidate religious exercise, per Justia.
Statewide Numbers Show Anti-Jewish Bias Dominates Religious Hate Crimes
The Brookside incident lands amid troubling statewide figures. California's 2024 annual hate crime report, released in June 2025, recorded 2,023 reported hate crime events statewide, with anti-Jewish incidents accounting for nearly three-quarters of all religion-biased hate crimes, according to the California Department of Justice. In response to that trend, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond announced a statewide initiative in December 2025 bringing together school leaders to train K-12 administrators on strategies to address and prevent antisemitic incidents on campus, the California Department of Education said.
Central Marin Police has previously pursued hate crime enhancements in the area; in May 2021, the agency arrested a 63-year-old San Anselmo man accused of leaving violent, racially charged voicemail threats for then-Mayor Brian Colbert. Whether investigators believe the Brookside graffiti is connected to any of these prior local incidents remains unclear, and no link has been established. The case also comes weeks after the department canceled its contract for automated license plate reader cameras over local privacy concerns, a move that could limit the surveillance tools available to investigators working weekend vandalism cases on school grounds.
