GAINESVILLE, FL (352today.com) – The Gainesville Police Department (GPD) has arrested a man in connection with vandalism at the Jewish Center at the University of Florida.

On Thursday, Nov. 30, officers arrested 50-year-old Geoffrey Alan Lush for scribbling hate slurs on multiple signs at the Lubavitch Chabad Jewish Student Center & Community Center (Chabad UF).

Detectives say a week earlier on November 23, someone left a threatening message on the University of Florida Hillel’s voicemail.

GPD says the caller stated, “If you do not value the lives of children then we do not value yours at all. At all. May you burn in the fires of hell for eternity. Every single one of you.”

Detectives say their investigation revealed other religious centers received similar messages via voicemail and email on the same day.

Photo of the graffiti on the Chabad UF sign. The scribble says “child murder” and “burn in hell.” Courtesy: Chabad UF
Photo of a vandalized banner at the UF Jewish Student & Community Center. Courtesy: Chabad UF
Graffiti on the sidewalk near Chabad UF, the Jewish Student & Community Center.

The next morning, Chabad UF membership discovered the vandalism to a sign and banner which had inked phrases that said, “Burn in Hell” and “Child Murders.” On the sidewalk in front of the building, a Star of David had been drawn with an arrow and the phrase “Star of Molec” and “David had no Star.”

The vandalism was captured on the center’s cameras. Multiple angles showed that around 6 a.m. on November 24, a person dressed in a long, dark trench coat approached the center from the east. The person appeared to be a tall, adult white male with light-colored, shoulder-length hair.

Detectives from GPD and the University of Florida Police Department say they worked together to trace the phone number and email address used to send the hate messages to Lush. They also say Lush’s social media accounts contained posts similar to the messages and the vandalism. According to police, Lush even posted about other acts of vandalism he performed on November 24.

GPD says the signs will need to be replaced as the graffiti could not be removed.

Police charged Lush with:
  • written threats to kill or injure
  • criminal mischief of a place of worship

He’s being held on a $150,000 bond.

Chabad UF posted a statement on its Facebook page saying it’s pleased to notify the students and community that the “perpetrator of the antisemitic vandalism at our Center was arrested Thursday evening.”

In the statement, Rabbi Berl Goldman thanked law enforcement for “their continuous protection of all citizens.”

“Antisemitism, hatred and bigotry of any type is never acceptable and must be called out in any form or when targeting any individual or group,” said Goldman. “We encourage everyone to do an extra Mitzvah – good deed to add goodness and kindness to our community and world. Give charity, visit the sick, Jewish men put on Tefillin and in honor of the Shabbat tonight, all Jewish women and girls are encouraged to Light the Shabbat candles prior to sunset (in Gainesville at 5:12PM).”

Chabad UF said it will continue to enhance our security protocols at the center.