Charges dropped against student | Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle

Charges dropped against student

The college student who made off with a man’s swastika sign has seen her charges dropped in exchange for 10 hours of community service, she said.

Grae Hosmanek, an elementary education major at University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, reportedly took and tore up the sign outside at school, near the library. The man, who was a student, had been walking around with the sign on May 6, 2019, near an event celebrating the birth of Israel.

The event had been sponsored by Students Supporting Israel at the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee and Hillel Milwaukee.

Hosmanek, who is not Jewish, was walking from her Native American studies class when she saw the sign and how upset people were. She saw that people were approaching the man to talk to him, so she walked slowly and calmly to him, grabbed the sign, and ran to cheers from onlookers, she said.

She had initially been offered a plea deal of a $1 fine for vandalism, she said. She declined. She didn’t want it on her record.