San Jose high school students’ human swastika formation triggers hate crime probe

San Jose police have opened a hate crime investigation after eight students at Branham High School formed a human swastika on the school’s football field and posted the image online with an antisemitic quote from Adolf Hitler.

What happened: The incident, which took place on Dec. 3, saw the students position and photograph themselves on the ground in the shape of the Nazi symbol. They then posted the image on Instagram with a 1939 Hitler quote calling for the annihilation of Jews. School administrators received the image through an anonymous tip line the following evening and moved quickly to identify those responsible.

The original post has since been deleted, but copies continue to circulate online. The matter drew national media attention by Sunday as Silicon Valley leaders and Jewish community organizations condemned the act. “I was really scared, my identity feels threatened right now,” a Jewish senior at Branham told the Jewish News of Northern California. “There are people at my school who think they can get away with this. And for me, that was just really, really scary to know.”

What this means: This incident strikes at the heart of San Jose’s diverse community, which has the largest Vietnamese population for any city outside of Vietnam and where Asian Americans make up nearly 39% of the city’s 990,000 residents. The willingness of teenagers to publicly display hate symbols reveals how deeply prejudice has taken root in young minds, a threat that extends far beyond any single minority community.

Asian Americans, who have faced a sharp rise in hate incidents in recent years, understand this danger intimately. The fact that students openly formed Nazi imagery in broad daylight demonstrates that bigotry is being learned and reinforced, creating conditions where any marginalized group could become the next target.

Last week, a New York City Republican club also made headlines for its plan to honor a far-right German political leader on Dec. 13, two months after its statewide counterpart was disbanded over leaked chats in which members praised Hitler and used racist slurs targeting Asians.

Investigation underway: School officials have reportedly identified the students involved but cannot release their names due to federal privacy protections. Principal Beth Silbergeld said via the Los Angeles Times, “Our message to the community is clear: this was a disturbing and unacceptable act of antisemitism. Actions that target, demean, or threaten Jewish students have no place on our campuses.” To address the harm, Branham High is working with the Anti-Defamation League, Bay Area Jewish Coalition and Jewish Community Relations Council.

The incident comes amid a disturbing national trend. The Anti-Defamation League documented more than 9,300 antisemitic incidents nationwide in 2024, a 344% increase over the previous five years. The California Department of Education has pledged “statewide resources” to support the school’s response.