Italian police arrest suspected synagogue vandal caught on video
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Italian police arrest suspected synagogue vandal caught on video

Police said the alleged perpetrator was accused breaking two windows 'for the purposes of ethnic-religious hatred'

Screenshot from Italian police video of the alleged shul vandal
Screenshot from Italian police video of the alleged shul vandal

Police in the northeast Italian city of Trieste analysed security videos to identify and arrest a man suspected of vandalising the city’s synagogue twice in the past few months.

The suspect was accused of breaking two windows “for the purposes of ethnic-religious hatred,” police said.

A statement issued this week said careful analysis of the video enabled police to identify the suspect, an unemployed Italian man around 30 years old who was already “known to the police.”They said he punched out exterior windows at the synagogue on Oct. 24, 2019, and Jan. 3.

Trieste Police posted security videos on its Facebook page showing the man walking back and forth in front of the synagogue and jumping up on its wall. He also turns to the camera, makes the sign of the cross and mimics shooting a pistol.

The police announcement said the man, whose name was not released, confessed to the vandalism, saying it had a “mystical-religious meaning.” Local media reported that when police detained the man, he shouted antisemitic invective at them, including “I would kill all Jews — If you were Jews and we were at war, I would kill you both.”

Individuato l’autore dei danneggiamenti alla Sinagoga di via San Francesco.Due gli episodi all'attenzione degli…

פורסם על ידי ‏‎Questura di Trieste‎‏ ב- יום רביעי, 15 בינואר 2020

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