San Diego Jewish leaders praise mayor, City Council, police, though 38.5% of city’s hate crimes this year targeted Jews

Of 13 hate crimes that San Diego has reported from Jan. 1 until May 22, all five that involve religious bias have targeted Jews, or 38.5% of the total number of hate crimes, according to San Diego Police Department data.

Jews make up about 2% of the residents of the city’s metro area, according to the Pew Research Center’s 2023-24 Religious Landscape Study.

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Four of the five involved intimidating Jews, and the fifth was an incident of vandalism, according to the city data. The most recent hate crime recorded in the police data was April 7, but the police website states that the data was last updated on May 22.

In 2025, the city recorded 41 hate crimes, 11 of which, 26.8%, targeted Jews. Nine of the 11 involved destruction of property, and two were incidents of intimidation.

Four (9.8%) hate crimes targeted Catholics, four (9.8%) were against “other” Christians, two (4.9%) were anti-Muslim, one (2.4%) was anti-Arab and one (2.4%) was against an unspecified religion.

Sara Brown, San Diego regional director at the American Jewish Committee, told JNS that “Jews everywhere have been exposed to more antisemitism and anti-Zionism since Oct. 7.”

“San Diego is no exception,” she said.

Brown said that San Diego residents can “take comfort” in the way that the city mayor, the City Council and county law enforcement “have been staunch allies with the Jewish community.”

“Through their leadership, we know the city takes these incidents seriously and will vigorously investigate them,” Brown told JNS.

Liat Cohen-Reeis, director of the antisemitism task force at StandWithUs San Diego, told JNS that “despite the darkness and hatred we face each day, the majority of San Diegans have moral clarity and courage.”

“They have shown this by showing up to rallies, events, City Council meetings and pretty much all the ways we have asked our allies to join us in combating antisemitism,” she said.

“While antisemitic hate crimes in San Diego are growing, so is the alliance with our Christian brothers and sisters,” she said. “There is a lot of work to be done. We are facing very trying times, and there are still many in San Diego who stand with us.”

“We have been blessed to have built wonderful relationships with our police department, elected officials and local churches,” Cohen-Reeis added.

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