Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Breaking News

Washington Man Ordered Not To Post Swastikas Facing Jewish Neighbor

— A county judge in north-central Washington has ordered a local man to refrain from displaying a swastika on the wall of his barn after he posted the Nazi symbol in order to harass his Jewish neighbor.

Chelan County District Court Judge Nancy Harmon ruled Tuesday that Wenatchee resident K.N. Klinginsmith meant to “alarm, annoy or harass” his neighbor, James D. Goodwin, when he hung the swastika on the wall of his barn facing the Goodwin home for three days in February, the Yakima Herald reported.

The judge ordered Klinginsmith to post no more such symbols on the north wall of his barn, and ruled that the men may not intrude on each other’s property. The ruling does not prevent swastikas from being hung on other areas of Klinginsmith’s property, however.

The neighbors reportedly have feuded for the last two decades, on issues that include low-hanging tree boughs hanging into one neighbor’s yard, and construction material encroaching on the other’s yard, according to the newspaper.

The Goodwin family has hosted a yearly Sukkot celebration in their yard for the last 20 years, which includes a large Star of David, according to the newspaper. Goodwin’s attorney used the celebration to make the case that Klinginsmith had reason to know the Goodwin family is Jewish

Klinginsmith said in his testimony that he put the swastika up as a reminder of his days in the U.S. Army and that he bought the swastika after his 1962-1965 service in Germany, probably from a swap meet.

He also said that he did not know Goodwin and his wife were Jewish and never saw their Sukkot celebrations. His attorney called the display of the swastika protected speech under the state and U.S. constitutions

Goodwin testified that: “A swastika directed at a Jew is a death threat. Nothing more, nothing less than that.”

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.

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

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at editorial@forward.com, subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.

Exit mobile version