Update: Man arrested for spray-painting swastikas on D.C.’s Union Station

By Lauren Markoe January 28, 2022

Update: A man has been arrested and charged for spray-painting swastikas on Union Station, Washington, D.C., police said Saturday. They arrested Geraldo Panda, 34, of no fixed address, and are investigating the crime “as potentially being motivated in whole or in part by hate or bias.”

One of dozens of swastikas drawn on Union Station Friday, January 28, 2022. (Screenshot)

More than 50 swastikas were drawn Friday on the grand facade of Union Station in Washington, D.C., Amtrak’s second-busiest hub.

Amtrak and D.C. police are investigating the graffiti, which was up for hours before crews began taping over it with plastic and heavy duty tape.

The swastikas were captured in videos and photos by Amtrak passengers and commuters who use the station’s Metro stop, one of the two closest to the Capitol.

In a press conference Friday, D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee indicated that authorities have identified a suspect. “The person who did this could very well have some mental health challenges,” Contee said. “What I also know is that it appears that it may be one of our unhoused residents who did this, based upon some information that has been revealed.”

Get the Forward delivered to your inbox. Sign up here to receive our essential morning briefing of American Jewish news and conversation, the afternoon’s top headlines and best reads, and a weekly letter from our editor-in-chief.

Amtrak spokeswoman Kimberly Woods said in a statement that the swastikas will be removed as quickly as possible.

Plastic and tape hide swastikas on Union Station in Washington, D.C., on Friday, Jan. 28, 2022. More than 50 appear on the outside of the building, Amtrak’s second-busiest station. Photo by Laura E. Adkins

The swastikas, hand-drawn at eye level, marred the length of the more than 100-year-old Beaux Arts building and continued around its corner. Thousands of people – including members of Congress and their staff – saw them before they were covered up. Witnesses also captured images of the plastic falling down.

Many posted their dismay to social media and noted that the swastikas appeared the day after International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the annual remembrance established by the United Nations General Assembly on the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp.

“Yesterday was #HolocaustRemembranceDay. Today, my friend shared the horror of walking through Union Station in DC to find swastikas on every single column. Too many to count,” tweeted Sheila Katz, CEO of the National Council of Jewish Women. “This is not okay. Your Jewish friends are exhausted and need you as partners in calling out antisemitism.”

Yesterday was #HolocaustRemembranceDay. Today, my friend shared the horror of walking through Union Station in DC to find swastikas on every single column. Too many to count. This is not okay. Your Jewish friends are exhausted and need you as partners in calling out antisemitism. pic.twitter.com/g44X1AYGxw

— Sheila Katz (@SheilaKatz1) January 28, 2022

“A day after #HolocaustRemembranceDay, hate has reared its ugly head in the nation’s capital,” tweeted the American Jewish Committee.

A day after #HolocaustRemembranceDay, hate has reared its ugly head in the nation’s capital.

Washington, D.C.’s iconic Union Station was graffitied with Nazi swastikas.

.@MayorBowser and @DCPoliceDept must investigate. https://t.co/PLX9mWJXhM

— American Jewish Committee (@AJCGlobal) January 28, 2022

Forward Opinion Editor Laura E. Adkins contributed to this story.

Lauren Markoe is news editor of the Forward. A Bronx native, she reported for The Patriot Ledger, several McClatchy newspapers in the South, and Religion News Service, where she was also managing editor. She also produced live radio shows at WAMU in Washington, D.C., where she lives.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO