Palo Alto’s District Attorney office is offering its support for the Paly community in response to reports of vandalism and other hate incidents directed at members of the Gay-Straight Alliance.

Supervising deputy district attorney for North Santa Clara County Jay Boyarsky came to Thursday’s faculty meeting at Paly to make an official statement against "intolerance and discrimination."

Boyarsky spoke briefly at the meeting, mainly offering his support for the gay students against hate crimes.

"I wanted to let the Paly community know that law enforcement stands with them against hate incidents," Boyarsky said. "We are willing to offer assistance against hate crimes, to the extent that there is a hate crime."

The State of California makes a distinction between hate crimes and hate incidents. According to a "Preventing Hate Crime" brochure from the California Department of Justice, a hate incident is an "action or behavior motivated by hate, but is protected by the First Amendment right to freedom of expression." Hate crimes are defined as targeting someone because of "’real or perceived’ race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or physical or mental disability."

While Boyarsky said he wants to make it clear that the county "aggressively prosecutes" hate crimes, he also admitted that there is not much officials can do until a suspect is caught. He was quick to add that as soon as the situation "is solved," the county office will step in.

"It seems to me that the school is going to take it seriously," Boyarsky said. "The police are taking it seriously, and should a suspect be identified the District Attorney’s office will take it very seriously."

Boyarsky’s statement came in the wake of incidents detailed in the Feb.1 edition of the Palo Alto Weekly. The story, written by Alexandria Rocha, recounts several incidents in which Paly students have been harassed on campus by other students based on their sexual orientation.

Although Boyarsky does not expect his statement to drastically change tolerance in the community, Boyarsky intends to show Gay-Straight Alliance members that they have support.

"I hope that my showing up and lending a hand to GSA will send a signal that intolerance and discrimination against any group is not acceptable," Boyarsky said.