Suspect arrested for spraying swastika on Nebraska synagogue

Investigators were given video surveillance footage of the vandalism to assist in capturing the suspect.

By World Israel News Staff

A suspect accused of vandalizing a synagogue in Nebraska was arrested last Friday by the Lincoln Police Department (LPD), reported local news outlet KETV.

According to the report, Noah Miller, 21, is being charged with Felony Vandalism for allegedly spray painting a swastika and racial epithets on the door and steps of the South Street Temple in Lincoln on Jan. 13.

Investigators were given video surveillance footage of the vandalism by the Temple that showed an adult male spray-painting the door and steps of the temple, as well as taking pictures of it with his cell phone.

In addition, investigators received numerous tips, interviewed potential suspects, and served search warrants to track down Miller.

The vandalism of the synagogue and Miller’s arrest follows a recent upsurge of anti-Semitic incidents in the United States over the past few years.

Last year, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) released its annual census of U.S. anti-Semitic incidents. It counted 1,879 anti-Semitic incidents — either harassment, vandalism or physical assault — in 2018. That is a 5 percent decrease from the 1,986 incidents reported in 2017, but the third-highest total since ADL began tracking the data in the 1970s.

The 2017 number marked a 57 percent increase over 2016 and was the highest tally ADL had counted in more than two decades.