BY ALLEN HOWARD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
![[krug]](/editions/1998/11/17/krug_160x125.jpg)
Sara Krug of Anderson Twp. says: "It makes me angry to see this done and they get away with it."
(Jeff Swinger photo)
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ANDERSON TOWNSHIP - Fifteen-year-old Sara Krug could not face going to school Monday.
She was too angry about messages of intolerance spray-painted on her Anderson Township home early Sunday because she and her family are Jewish.
"I just didn't want to deal with this at school. It makes me angry to see this done and they get away with it," said Ms. Krug, a 10th-grader at Anderson High School.
At least nine other homes on Yarger Drive were vandalized, but only the Krug home was defaced with anti-Semitic slogans and swastikas. The Hamilton County Sheriff's Department is investigating but has made no arrests.
"We can't go so far as to say we have suspects, but we are looking into a lot of leads and we expect to make an arrest," said Steve Barnett, information officer for the sheriff's department. "This is a nasty thing to happen."
Ms. Krug said neighbors spent Sunday helping her family clean away the mess.
"We haven't had any problems in the neighborhood," Ms. Krug said. "A lot of kids came to help with the cleanup, which was real neat," she said.
But she also said this is not the first time she or a family member has been ridiculed because they are Jews. Just last week, Ms. Krug said a fellow Anderson High student told her that he hoped she would die and rot because she is Jewish. Three years ago, she said, her sister, Jenny, now 18, suffered a broken nose when hit in the face by a student who said he attacked her because she is Jewish.One person was charged in that attack.
Anderson High School Principal Michael Hall did not return a call to his office Monday.
Mr. Barnett said at least two similar incidents have occurred in Anderson Township within the last five years, and both involved juveniles.
Such incidents are punishable under the Ohio Ethnic Intimidation Law, said Jonathan Williams, assistant director of HOME (Housing Opportunities Made Equal). He said HOME investigates an average of 10 ethnic intimidation complaints a month in Greater Cincinnati.
"Some that are reported are incidents, but do not involve criminal acts as defined by the law," Mr. Williams said. He said ethnic intimidation involves criminal damaging, criminal mischief, aggravated menacing, menacing and telephone harassment.
"We encourage people to call the police because they are the first line of defense," Mr. Williams said.
He said HOME has provided training to 15 local police agencies, including Cincinnati. "We teach them how to define, identify, investigate, report and prepare to prosecute incidents of ethnic intimidation."
Karla Irvine, HOME director, said the ethnic intimidation law can be effective when applied. "The strength of it is that if these are juveniles and they are convicted, the victim can sue their parents," she said.
![[krug]](/editions/1998/11/17/krug_500x390.jpg)