Fire that destroyed San Jose Chabad house, which was vandalized days later, may have been set deliberately, security footage reveals.
A fire that burned down a three month old San Jose, California Chabad house that was initially thought to be an accident may turn out to have been a targeted hate crime, the Jewish Journal reported.
The center was destroyed by a fire on December 22. By the time the fire had been put out, every room in the building was charred, even the attic was destroyed.
Three days later, the remains of the building was vandalized, with items that had not been incinerated in the fire stolen, according to Rabbi Mendel Weinfeld of Chabad House-Almaden Valley.
Fire investigators at first concluded that the first was not an antisemitic hate crime. However, with the vandalism a few days later, the cause of the fire remains unclear and points to the Chabad house possibly being targeted, Rabbi Weinfeld said.
The investigation is still in process.
Source: Arutz 7