The Ventura man is facing felony vandalism and hate crime charges after allegedly spraying a string of swastikas throughout the city, officials announced Friday.
The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office has identified the man as 32-year-old John Williams.
Police arrested Williams on Sunday, March 30th. He painted at least five sws on Ventura’s public and private property, then recorded and posted on his social media accounts.
According to the DA’s office, when executives first responded to reports from the business regarding graffiti on their property, they found the word “VC Pride” tagged on the wall.
Further investigation revealed four more reports of similar graffiti, and officers quickly observed surveillance footage of Williams in two locations around the time the vandalism occurred.
Officers later discover that Williams is on an electric scooter and after stopping him, they find evidence that led to vandalism.
Further investigations on Williams’ social media showed that he took pictures of the sw that he drew to make others appear to be committing a crime.
On April 4, the DA’s office said Williams was three felony vandalism for damages over $400, three felony hate crimes placing a symbol of fear on private property, two misdemeanor counts of vandalism and one misdemeanor of possession of a stan gun from a convicted felon.
“He is also facing special allegations of committing a crime while on parole and being convicted of a prior strike,” the DA’s office added in the release.
According to a Los Angeles Times report, Williams was convicted of forced rape in 2019 after pleading guilty to a crime in 2015, according to court records.
The report added that at the time of his recent arrest Williams was allegedly on parole for a rape conviction.
Williams pleaded not guilty to all charges on April 2, and his early punishment meeting will be set for April 11.
“Vandalism involving despicable symbols like sw is more than just property damage,” said Darrick Nasalenko, Ventura County. “It’s a hateful message aimed at spreading fear, spreading sow division and putting the community at risk.”
Williams is in custody on bail set at $250,000, according to the DA’s office.
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