Police say juvenile won't face charges for daubing swastika on Minnesota school

Youngster confessed, but cops say there was no crime as chalk graffiti caused no permanent damage

EDINA, Minneapolis — Police in a Minneapolis suburb say a juvenile will not face charges after acknowledging drawing a swastika and other offensive graffiti on a shed at an elementary school.

Edina police were called Saturday about the chalk graffiti. The officer photographed the graffiti and then washed it off.

Authorities reviewed security video and identified the juvenile as a person of interest. Police say the juvenile confessed, but because there was no permanent damage, there was no crime to charge the juvenile with and no arrest.

In an email to Edina School District families, Superintendent John Schultz wrote that “when an act of hatred occurs anywhere in Edina, it affects our entire community.”

The Star Tribune reports Schultz says the district has turned to the Jewish Community Relations Council for guidance as they work through the issue.

The incident came as authorities on Monday arrested a known white supremacist on suspicion that he planned to blow up a synagogue in Colorado.

The suspect, named as Richard Holzer, 27, allegedly intended to use explosives to attack Temple Emanuel in the city of Pueblo, according to an affidavit filed on Saturday at the US District Court in Colorado. Holzer said he was preparing a “holy war” and claimed to have poisoned the water at the synagogue with arsenic and was planning to do so again.