Damien Jurado at Murmrr Theatre
outside Murmrr Theatre in May (more by Gretchen Robinette)

man arrested for anti-semitic graffiti that cancelled Ilana Glazer event

A 26-year-old Brooklyn man, James Polite, was reportedly arrested in connection with the anti-semitic graffiti found on the Union Temple of Brooklyn which caused the cancellation of Ilana Glazer‘s event at Murmrr Theatre (which is located inside the temple). The New York Times reports:

Mr. Polite was arrested on Friday and charged with criminal mischief as a hate crime for writing “Die Jew Rats,” “Hitler,” “End It Now” and “Jew Better Be Ready” in marker on walls of the Union Temple of Brooklyn.

The police said surveillance video captured Mr. Polite, of Brooklyn, inside the synagogue.

He was taken into custody on Friday morning at the scene of a fire that had been set inside the coat room of Yeshiva Beth Hillel of Williamsburg, officials said.

Mr. Polite was charged with arson, reckless endangerment and criminal mischief — all as hate crimes — for setting fires at four other locations affiliated with the Jewish community, including another school. The police recognized Mr. Polite from the surveillance video at Union Temple.

As of Saturday afternoon, Mr. Polite was being held for psychiatric evaluation.

Last year, James Polite was profiled by the NY Times in an article that discussed his childhood in foster care, struggles with mental illness and drug addiction, and that he was taken under former City Council speaker Christine C. Quinn’s wing for an internship where he worked to combat hate crimes. Christine Quinn posted a statement in response to his arrest:

The graffiti found at Union Temple of Brooklyn came less than a week after a gunman killed 11 people at a synagogue in Pittsburgh.