An SUV adorned with an “OCT 7” vanity plate in Chesterfield has sparked outrage in the local Jewish community, with both the Anti-Defamation League and Jewish Federation of St. Louis condemning the display.
The front plate, bordered by a frame with the words “Made in Palestine” emblazoned between Palestinian flags, makes apparent reference to the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led invasion of Israel in which terrorists killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
A Jewish resident at Parq at Chesterfield apartments told the Jewish Light he spotted the “OCT 7” plate on a Hyundai Genesis SUV parked outside the leasing office on May 8. Images of the plate were soon being shared on Facebook, raising alarm among Jews in greater St. Louis and beyond.
“There’s really only one way to see this plate, and that’s as a celebration of the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” said Shelley Dean, 51, a Jewish St. Louis resident who learned of the plate from her friend, the same Parq tenant who first spotted the inflammatory message.
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“This is hate speech. You’re basically saying, ‘I’m supporting the rape and killing of Jewish women and babies,’” Dean said.
After Jewish community members alerted Chesterfield Police, they determined the SUV had an expired Illinois plate and issued a ticket for that violation, said Chesterfield City Administrator Mike Geisel. In Illinois, like Missouri, automobiles require both front and rear license plates. The driver of the vehicle apparently replaced the front plate with the “OCT 7” vanity one.
“The language that’s on the vehicle, while certainly offensive, is not a municipal violation,” Geisel said. “It’s a free speech issue, but we’re very much aware of it and we’ll make sure they follow the law.”
Authorities declined to make public the name of the registered owner of the SUV. Efforts to reach the vehicle owner were unsuccessful.
Asked whether Chesterfield Police had contacted other law enforcement agencies about the plate, Geisel said: “Without going into specifics, I’ll tell you that our law enforcement is very active in intelligence gathering and on task forces. We share information with a lot of different law enforcement agencies.”
Jewish organizations were quick to respond to reports they received about the plate.
Federation’s Community Security team, led by Scott Biondo, was in contact with police as soon as the organization learned of the “offensive” message, said Danny Cohn, the Federation’s president and CEO.
“Members of our Jewish community were the first to see and share photos of the vehicle, which not only brought attention to the very real threat of antisemitism in our community, but also helped remind us that we all have a role to play to identify and combat hate against Jews, in all its forms,” Cohn said.
Jordan Kadosh, regional director of ADL Heartland, said the organization is “in contact with law enforcement about the vehicle, which appears to tastelessly flaunt the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, and a day on which dozens of Americans were killed by Hamas terrorists.
“Oct. 7 was a horrific act of terrorism that should never be glorified,” he said.
The Parq at Chesterfield resident who first reported the plate said he and other Jewish residents were outraged by its seeming glorification of the massacre.
“I saw the plate, right in front of the leasing office, and it immediately shocked and infuriated me,” said the tenant, who requested anonymity due to safety concerns. “It’s affected me way more than I thought it would.”
Several members of the Jewish community called on Parq at Chesterfield to ban the plate from their property.
“It’s up to them to say, ‘This is not something that we tolerate,” said Dean. “We will not allow for this type of message. The car can be there, but you have to take that plate off.’”
Parq at Chesterfield is managed by Fogelman Properties, a property management and investment company based in Memphis, Tenn.
In an email, a Fogelman spokesperson said the company learned of the plate when a resident emailed them over the weekend.
“We are evaluating the situation and will determine any appropriate next steps,” the spokesperson wrote.
Several U.S. states have issued personalized plates that were perceived as glorifying or mocking the Oct. 7 attacks.
In October 2024, Illinois revoked five personalized license plates with variations of the date “Oct. 7.” In April 2024, a Jewish woman in Richmond, Va. said her Lyft driver had a license plate that read “OCTOBR7.”
The Virginia plate was bordered by a frame featuring Palestinian flags and other references to Palestine. Lyft later said it permanently banned the driver.
Most U.S. states have regulations that allow them to reject or revoke personalized license plates deemed offensive or obscene. Missouri law states that plates cannot be “obscene, profane, patently offensive or contemptuous of a racial or ethnic group, or offensive to good taste or decency.”
The “OCT 7” plate in Chesterfield is not an official vehicle plate and therefore not subject to the Missouri plate law.
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