Andy Cohen is speaking out about the anti-Semitic vandalism in St. Louis that took place over the weekend.
“Over 100 headstones were vandalized in the historic Jewish cemetery in my hometown of St. Louis,” Cohen, 48, fumed in his “Jackhole of the Day” segment during “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen” on Monday night.
“This just happened over the last day, and this is extremely personal for me, because my great-grandparents and many other of my relatives are buried there in that cemetery,” he said. “I don’t have to have a personal connection, though, to know that this is not who we are as Americans and this certainly should not be where we’re heading. We are not even two months into 2017 and there have already been 69 reported bomb threats to JCCs in 27 states. A synagogue was defaced, swastikas have been drawn on the subway here in New York City, and now this.”
He continued, “This does not feel like a coincidence. We cannot allow acts of hate against anyone to become normal. We have got to do better as a country. I’ll step off my soapbox now, but I had to get that off my chest.”
Authorities are investigating the incident at the cemetery, which has been open since 1893, using surveillance footage to find suspects. Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens declared the vandalism “despicable” and “a cowardly act.”
Police are also investigating the swastika vandalism on a No. 1 train as a hate crime.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump denounced bomb threats to Jewish community centers around the country as “horrible and painful and a very sad reminder of the work that must be done to root out hate, prejudice and evil.”