A 23-year-old Michigan man has been indicted for allegedly defacing a Jewish synagogue using images associated with a white supremacist group, federal officials announced Thursday.
A grand jury issued its two-count indictment against Nathan Weeden on Tuesday, U.S. District Court, Western District of Michigan records show. It was unsealed after the FBI arrested the Houghton resident in Saline.
In September 2019, Weeden and two others, Richard Tobin of New Jersey and Yousef Barasneh of Wisconsin, were active with “The Base,” a multi-state, white supremacist organization, according to the filing.
They allegedly used an encrypted messaging platform to discuss vandalizing property associated with African Americans and Jewish Americans, investigators said.
Weeden and his alleged co-conspirators called their plan “Operation Kristallnacht,” which in German means “Night of Broken Glass” and references events in November 1938 when Nazis murdered Jews and burned or destroyed their homes, synagogues, schools and businesses.
On Sept. 21, 2019, Weeden allegedly carried out the plan by spray-painting swastikas and symbols associated with The Base on the outside walls of Temple Jacob in Hancock, Michigan, according to the indictment.
“We are fully prepared to make our case against Mr. Weeden,” said U.S. Attorney Mark Totten for the Western District of Michigan in a statement. “No one should be the target of hate because of their race, ethnicity, religion or any other status. When hateful words become hateful acts, in violation of federal civil rights laws, my office will use every tool we have to protect the public and ensure accountability. With the rise of antisemitism across the United States and here in Michigan, everyone must do their part to stand united against hate.”
Weeden is charged conspiracy against rights under a civil rights statute that makes it a crime to conspire to injure, oppress, threaten or intimidate any person in the exercise of their rights, according to the release. The maximum penalty is 10 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.
He also is charged in damage to religious property under a civil rights statute. The maximum penalty is one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.
“The FBI will not tolerate crimes motivated by hate, which are meant to intimidate and isolate the targeted groups,” said James Tarasca, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Michigan. “People of all faiths deserve to feel safe in their communities, and this office, in close collaboration with our law enforcement partners, will aggressively pursue these types of cases to ensure there are consequences for crimes like those alleged in this indictment.”
Weeden was arraigned Thursday through U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids.
He pleaded not guilty and was released on a $25,000 bond, records show. Weeden was ordered to remain in Michigan, surrender his passport and must refrain from possessing firearms or other weapons.
An attorney listed as representing Weeden did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The case coincides with what authorities and activists say is a rise in extremism nationwide and in Michigan.
The Anti-Defamation League tabulated 3,697 antisemitic incidents across the country in 2022, which marked a 36% increase from 2021 and the highest number since the group started tracking such acts incidents in 1979.
The ADL also found Michigan ranked fourth in the U.S. during an all-time high year nationally for white supremacist propaganda distribution.
Last year, West Bloomfield police investigated two threats against the Frankel Jewish Academy, and a Dearborn man was accused of making antisemitic, racist threats to young children, parents and security at Temple Beth El in Bloomfield Hills.
This spring, a Metro Detroit woman was accused of spray-painting antisemitic graffiti at the Woodward Avenue Shul Jewish Center in Royal Oak.
Weeks later, FBI agents arrested Seann Patrick Pietila, 19, of Pickford and accused him of threatening a mass killing at an East Lansing synagogue on the fifth anniversary of attacks in March 2019 that killed 51 people at two mosques in New Zealand.
