Teen white supremacist allegedly coordinated defacing synagogues in Michigan, Racine [View all]

RACINE — An 18-year-old from New Jersey faces federal charges filed by the FBI for allegedly coordinating the defacement of two Jewish synagogues: one in Hancock, Michigan on Sept. 21 and the second being Racine’s Beth Israel Sinai Congregation on the night of Sept. 22.

Richard Tobin of Brooklawn, New Jersey, is accused of coordinating with at least two people from the “Great Lakes Cell” of an online-based white supremacist group. Tobin allegedly encouraged other members of his hate group to “tag the (expletive)” out of synagogues, according to a criminal complaint filed last week.

The complaint states that Tobin “and other known and unknown individuals did conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, and intimidate minority citizens, including Jewish citizens, of the United States, to hold and use real and personal property in the same manner as that right is enjoyed by white citizens.”

Data released by the FBI last week shows that hate crimes in total were down in 2018 across the U.S., but actually saw a slight increase in Wisconsin, an increase attributed to a spike in north-central Wisconsin. There were 48 identified hate crimes in Wisconsin in 2017, and 52 in 2018, according to the FBI.

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