The convicted rapist was re-arrested in Ventura on suspicion of city-wide spray painting Swasticus and then recorded a hate crime on social media to soothe the fear, authorities said.
According to the Ventura Police Department, 30-year-old John Williams was arrested Sunday and booked at the Ventura County Jail on suspicion of vandalism, hate crimes and parole violations after linking him to at least five Swastika reports.
“Williams appeared to take photos of them and upload them to social media, and then take photos of them and upload them to social media, just as other people seem to be committing hate crimes and spreading fear,” he said in the statement.
According to court records, Williams was convicted of forced rape in 2019 after pleading guilty to a crime in 2015. At the time of his recent arrest, he was parole on a rape conviction, a police station spokesman CMDR. It was confirmed that Sarah had heard.
The suspect’s swastika spray painter’s suspicions have a history of parole violations, court records show. Just 10 days before his recent arrest for vandalism, he was booked to the Ventura County Jail for parole, according to county inmate records.
On Sunday morning, the department reported that someone spray painted Swastika onto the walls of their property from a business in the 1000 block of East Front Street near downtown Ventura. Officers reviewed surveillance video of the crime and identified the suspect as Williams, police said.
They then received four more calls about swastikas spray-painted on public and private property in the city.
While investigating the initial vandalism, officers spotted Williams riding an electric scooter near Main Street and Ash Street. They said they had stopped the enforcement halt and found evidence that led him to a crime.
Williams is on bail on $250,000 and is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday, according to the county inmate log.
He was booked for four counts of felony vandalism, one count of misdemeanor vandalism, one count of misdemeanor hate crime, one count of parole for offences, and a count of misdemeanors of possession of a stan gun convicted of a previous felony, according to the inmate log.
The United States has seen a huge surge in anti-Semitic hate crimes and vandalism in recent years.
In the 12 months since the Israel-Hamas War began on October 7, 2023, the Prevention Disability League reported more than 10,000 anti-Semitism cases in the United States. This included more than 1,840 incidents of anti-Semitic vandalism.
In LA County, anti-Semitic hate crimes rose 91% between 2022 and 2023. This is the latest year when data is available. The number of incidents rose to an all-time high of 124 to 242.
In 2023, a Los Angeles man was charged with spray painting Swastika in more than a dozen vehicles. Swastika graffiti has also been found on Santa Monica, West Hollywood, San Dimas, Calabasas, and on campuses of USC and UCLA.
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