Swastikas, 'Heil Hitler' Found In Lassiter High School Bathrooms

EAST COBB, GA — Lassiter High School Principal Dr. Chris Richie confirmed that antisemitic graffiti was found scrawled behind the stall doors in two different restrooms.

In a message sent to Lassiter families and posted on the Lassiter High School PTSA page,, Richie said that swastikas and “Heil Hitler” were found earlier this week, just days after nearly identical graffiti was found at Pope High School in Marietta. Both incidents seem to be linked to a social media trend encouraging teenagers to vandalize their schools with hate speech.

“I am both angered and saddened by the appearance of symbols and words of hatred in our school and community,” Richie said. “I do think it is important to first let parents know what occurred, to name it, and to let our students know that we condemn it. We are reviewing video footage, we are talking to kids, and our campus officer has filed a report.”

Richie told parents that after the Pope High School incident, school administration alerted staff to the trend, increased supervision around the school, and visited classes to discuss hate speech, social media, and reiterate school expectations of student behavior. Richie also said that restroom footage is being checked on an hourly basis. Richie called the incident an “active investigation” and asked parents and students to come forward if they had any information about it.

“A recent disturbing social media trend involving hate speech is unacceptable and distracting from our teachers' and students' ability to focus on teaching and learning. Our principals are engaging with students, teachers, parents, and community members about how to prevent the harmful and illegal behavior from happening,” a Cobb County spokesperson said in a statement printed in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “There is zero tolerance for actions that harm individual students, people groups or the school building, and all applicable district policies and laws will be applied."

Both local rabbis and the Anti-Defamation League have sent a letter to the Cobb County School District Board asking to speak at its next meeting, which was postponed to Sep. 23 after the Pope High School incident in observance of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. They have also asked the school board to present a comprehensive plan to address these incidents, according to the AJC.

Jewish leaders were underwhelmed by the district’s response to the Pope incident, which initially called the incident “hateful graffiti” but made no mention of antisemitism.

Rabbi Larry Sernovitz of Temple Kol Emeth, whose children attend Cobb County schools, spoke to students at Pope on Friday. He told CNN that he and six other area rabbis are working together to address the recent incidents.