Extremism 14 "hate crime" offenses in ten months in the canton of St. Gallen
In the canton of St. Gallen, the police have registered two incidents with an anti-Semitic background since October 7, 2023. In total, there were 14 "hate crime" offenses involving ethnicity or origin. This is the result of the government's response to an SVP motion.
28.08.2024, 16:47
28.08.2024, 17:10
SDA
In its motion submitted at the beginning of May, the SVP parliamentary group demanded various pieces of information on the subject of religious extremism. This was prompted by a knife attack by a 15-year-old on a Jew in Zurich. One of the questions concerns anti-Semitic incidents in the canton.
The government is aware of two incidents. In the Bazenheid-Lütisburg region, there were a total of 19 spray-paintings between September 2022 and December 2023, some of which had anti-Semitic lettering on them. The sole perpetrator has not yet been identified. He is being "supervised" by the threat and risk management department of the cantonal police, according to the response.
At two authorized Palestine rallies in the city of St. Gallen, the slogan "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" was occasionally chanted. This was prevented by the city police.
From a police perspective, the terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel on 7 October had no impact on the number of crimes with an anti-Semitic background registered in the canton of St. Gallen, the government concluded.
No anti-Semitic incidents have been reported from the municipalities to date. This was shown by a survey conducted by the VSGP (Association of St. Gallen Municipal Presidents). From a police perspective, an increased risk of religiously motivated extremism has "not been identified" in the canton of St. Gallen in recent times. However, this danger cannot be ruled out either.
