Swastika Found at State Department, Blinken Condemns: ‘We Must Be Relentless in Standing Up and Rejecting’ Anti-Semitism

Photo by TOM BRENNER/POOL/AFP via Getty Images.

A swastika etched into an elevator at the State Department was found, prompting Secretary of State Antony Blinken to condemn it on Tuesday.

Axios first reported the Monday discovery.

In a department-wide email, Blinken, who is Jewish, denounced the vandalism and said that it “has been removed and this incident will be investigated.”

“​As this painfully reminds us, anti-Semitism isn’t a relic of the past. It’s still a force in the world, including close to home,” wrote Blinken. “And it’s abhorrent. It has no place in the United States, at the State Department or anywhere else. And we must be relentless in standing up and rejecting it.”

Blinken went on to state, “We also know from our own history and from the histories of other nations that anti-Semitism often goes hand in hand with racism, sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, and other hatreds. None of these ideologies should have a home in our workplace or our nation.”

Blinken then made this message to his Jewish colleagues: “please know how grateful we are for your service and how proud we are to be your colleagues.”

The nation’s top diplomat is currently on a trip to India and Kuwait.