Community members gather outside Walt Whitman HS on Sunday night after antisemitic graffiti was found on the school's entrance sign. Credit: Mike Landsman

Just one day after antisemitic graffiti was found smeared across the entrance sign of Walt Whitman High School, several Whitman staff members discovered an antisemitic message in their inbox from an unknown sender, according to an email sent by Whitman Principal Robert Dodd to school personnel.

The anonymous sender’s email address came from outside the Montgomery County Public Schools network, according to Dodd’s email.

Dodd confirmed the existence of the antisemitic emails to Bethesda Beat in an interview this week. He said the Montgomery County Police Department is investigating to identify the sender.

Montgomery County police did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the email.

The police investigation into the graffiti found on Saturday morning is also ongoing, and Dodd said his school is partnering with the department to identify and locate the culprit.

“I have complete faith in the police department that they will exhaustively investigate this,” he said of the graffiti. “It will not be tolerated.”

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MCPS Communications Director Jessica Baxter told Bethesda Beat that “the email is a matter that is being investigated by police, so we are limited in what we can say.”

Authorities ask anyone with information about either the graffiti or the emails sent to Whitman staff to contact Montgomery County police at 301-279-8000.

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