MIAMI – The rabbi of a synagogue in Miami’s Brickell neighborhood is asking state and federal authorities to file hate crime charges against a man authorities said was caught on camera vandalizing the house of worship Saturday.
Video shows the suspect walking up to The Shul of Downtown, located at 35 SE Ninth St., and throwing some sort of an object at the door.
While the attack happened on the same day of Hamas’ deadly siege against Israel, Rabbi Chaim Lipskar said the suspect, Andrew Johnson, had been harassing congregants the week before.
“Members of our community have seen this guy before and he shouted ‘Heil Hitler’ and chased them before,” Lipskar said.
Congregant and local attorney Sean Burstyn said after the vandalism, Johnson came back and held rocks over babies.
“He came back three times in one day,” Burstyn said. “The last time, we finally found him waving a stone in the faces of congregants while they were holding their children,” Burstyn said.
The attack came on the final day of the Jewish holiday Sukkot.
“We eventually found him out in the street and we were able to catch him, waved down a police officer who booked him,” Burstyn said. “Right now he’s he’s sleeping on a concrete pad in the jail.”
Johnson, 53, appeared in bond court Tuesday on a felony criminal mischief charge but Lipskar said it should be considered a hate crime.
Despite the attack, Lipskar offered a message of hope.
“We should be vigilant, but proud not to be afraid and stand up and show our Jewish pride,” he said.
Johnson remained behind bars Tuesday on a $5,000 bond, according to jail records.
A GoFundMe page was created by Lipskar to help fund security for the synagogue. The page can be found by clicking here.