No tolerance for hatred
As residents, home owners, and community members of San Luis Obispo County, we are upset, but not shocked, by the tragic hate crime perpetrated on the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity on the Cal Poly campus. The hate crimes on the campus are ongoing, a cyclical targeting of one group after another who claim individual and/or intersectional identities of female, Jewish, Muslim, Black, LGBTQ-plus, and non-majority identities.
It is common knowledge that a swastika is the symbol used to represent the Nazi party. The wider implications of the sign are terrifying and go far beyond symbolic signaling: Its use is a crime of the most severe degree against these individuals and our collective humanity. We call for local and federal authorities to treat this occurrence for what it is an