A view of Union Temple in Brooklyn. (Jim Henderson/public domain/Wikipedia)
Police have arrested a 26-year-old Brooklyn man for scrawling anti-Semitic graffiti throughout a synagogue.
James Polite was charged Friday with criminal mischief as a hate crime, and making graffiti.
Police said he entered the Union Temple in the Prospect Heights neighborhood on Thursday evening and used a black marker to deface its walls with racial slurs such as “Kill all Jews” and “Jews better be ready.”
The incident prompted the cancellation of a political event during which actress Ilana Glazer was to interview several State Senate candidates and a reporter inside the synagogue. Organizers said they feared for attendees’ safety.
Rabbi Mark Sameth speaks with members of the Brooklyn Jewish community as NYPD officers stand guard at the door of the Union Temple of Brooklyn on November 2, 2018 in New York City. (Kena Betancur/AFP)
Polite is also charged with setting arson fires in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg section, including one at a Jewish banquet hall.
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He has reportedly been admitted to a hospital psychiatric ward for observation.
“There was a lot of anxiety,” attendee Kathryn Gonzalez told the New York Post about the cancellation of the political event. “Especially given last weekend’s events and the upcoming election, the tension and fear feels heightened.”
Rabbi Mark Sameth thanks members of the Brooklyn Jewish community at the door of Union Temple of Brooklyn on November 2, 2018 in New York City. (Kena Betancur/AFP)
On Wednesday, a synagogue in California was defaced with anti-Semitic graffiti. The words “fuck Jews” and “Jews” were spray-painted on the white facade of the building.
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Meanwhile online anti-Semitism has flourished in the days following Saturday’s deadly shooting attack at a Pittsburgh synagogue in which 11 people were killed.
Robert Bowers, 46, has been accused of gunning down congregants at the Tree of Life synagogue during services in the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in American history.
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