A Jewish mother in West Hollywood, California, confronted her neighbor after he was caught drawing a swastika on her shopping bags.
In a video shared on social media Monday, Leah Grossman approaches her neighbor, Mark Nakagawa, after his porch camera captures him scribbling a symbol on a box of mineral water found on Grossman's door and returns to the scene.
“Is there a problem?” he asks her before directly asking her if that's “a Nazi symbol” on her purchases.
“No, I'm just walking around here,” Nakagawa, a retired pastor and former district superintendent of the United Methodist Church, tells Grossman in the video shared by the nonprofit group StopAntiSemitism.
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A prominent United Methodist Church leader who retired last year was caught drawing a swastika on his Jewish neighbor's shopping bags in December. (Screenshot/Stop Anti-Semitism/YouTube)
Grossman informs Nakagawa that she saw him and that he has a camera.
“What is that? What did you draw there?” she asked again.
Nakagawa continued to deny any knowledge of what happened or what the symbol is.
Grossman told KCAL News that the incident occurred in December, shortly after she said Nakagawa called her a “fascist” at a homeowners association meeting after she hung the Israeli flag on her balcony following the terrorist attack in Hamas of October 7.
Nakagawa claimed that Grossman actually called him a fascist at the community meeting. He admitted to drawing the symbol.
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A man carries two Israeli flags during a pro-Israel demonstration in front of the Israeli embassy on October 8, 2023, in Washington, DC. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
Nakagawa said that “he was trying to educate Grossman about the history of [the swastika] as a Buddhist symbol of love,” and he “didn't know how Grossman would react to the drawing,” according to KCAL.
“In retrospect, the way I did it was not correct. It was bad judgment on my part. I realize that,” Nakagawa confessed to the local media outlet.
Nakagawa was a prominent leader in the United Methodist Church until last year, serving as Western District superintendent from July 2016 to July 2023. Before that, he served as senior minister of two UMC churches in the area. of Los Angeles for more than 22 years, according to his LinkedIn.
The United Methodist Church said it was “saddened” to learn of the incident and “does not tolerate any form of hate or discrimination.”
As of June 2023, more than 6,000 United Methodist congregations (one-fifth of the US total) had received permission to leave the denomination amid a schism over the theology and role of LGBTQ people in the Second Protestant denomination. largest in the country. ((AP Photo/Charlie Riedel))
“Our community was saddened to learn over the weekend of an incident that occurred in December involving one of our retired clergy and former district superintendent, Mark Nakagawa. The California-Pacific Annual Conference does not condone any form of hate or discrimination. “We are committed to loving our neighbors, fostering an inclusive and respectful environment for all, and fostering interfaith relationships in our communities,” reads a statement from the UMC.
Grossman said the turmoil in the Middle East has led to an increase in anti-Semitic incidents in the United States.
“…I think people feel really emboldened to put pressure on Jews. People just shouldn't get away with it,” he told KCAL.
The Anti-Defamation League has reported that during a two-week period after the October 7 attacks, antisemitic incidents increased by 388% in the United States compared to the same period in 2022.
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