TOWN OF NEWBURGH – Town of Newburgh supervisor candidate Scott Manley was shocked to find one of his campaign signs vandalized with a swastika on Wednesday morning.
A friend alerted Manley to the Nazi emblem, spray-painted on both sides of the sign, at about 8 a.m. The sign was located on Lakeside Road near Orange Lake.
“This is the first time I am getting emotional about this stuff,” said Manley, who is Jewish and had relatives who died in Nazi concentration camps during the Holocaust. “I am just shocked that anyone would go this low. It is just disgusting.”
Manley, a Republican, has reported the incident to the Town of Newburgh Police Department, and an investigation is underway. He said vandals have previously defaced his campaign signs with stickers of his Democratic opponent, Stephen Krasner, placed over his eyes. Vandals have also written over Manley’s eyes and teeth with black markers on his signs throughout the town during a contentious race, he said.
However, the swastika sent shockwaves through the community as antisemitism skyrockets in the U.S. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) recorded 6,274 total antisemitic incidents across the U.S. in 2025, marking the third-highest year ever. According to FBI Hate Crime Data via the Jewish Federations of North America, Jewish Americans make up roughly 2% of the U.S. population but were targets of 18% of all reported hate crimes, with Jews accounting for 69% of all religion-based hate crimes.
“I have seen plenty of horrible things in politics, but I have never seen anything like this,” said Paul Ernenwein, a Newburgh attorney and friend of Manley. Ernenwein is Jewish. “It is disgusting to have an attack like this happen in a local election, especially with all of the antisemitism happening globally and in this country. It is really disappointing. It is heartbreaking.”
Town of Newburgh Police Chief Bruce Campbell said the Manley incident will be investigated as a hate crime. Manley currently serves as the Town of Newburgh’s Deputy Supervisor.
“I am both personally, as a Town of Newburgh resident, and professionally as the Chief of Police disgusted by this cowardly act,” Campbell said. “We hope to bring the offender to justice quickly.”
Vandalizing a political sign can bring fines of up to $1,000 and a year in jail, according to Campbell. Anyone with information about the incident is urged to contact the Town of Newburgh Detective Division at 845-564-1100.
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