Nineteen-year-old Pleads Guilty to Conspiring with neo-Nazi Group to Vandalize Synagogues in 2019
Published by The Lawfare Institute
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On Feb. 26, the Justice Department announced that 19-year-old Richard Tobin, a New Jersey resident, pleaded guilty to conspiring with other members of a white supremacist hate group called “The Base” to intimidate Black and Jewish Americans by directing the group’s members to destroy and vandalize minority-owned properties in the U.S. in September 2019. Tobin faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and is set to receive his sentencing on June 28, 2021.
The 2019 criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for New Jersey alleges that Tobin and other members of the group discussed “among other things, the recruitment of prospective members, the creation of a white ethno-state, acts of violence against minorities (including African-Americans and Jewish-Americans),” in addition to “training camps” and “ways to make improvised explosive devices.” Tobin admitted that from Sept. 15 to Sept. 23, 2019, he encouraged members to target African Americans and Jewish Americans by slashing tires, breaking windows and spray painting hate symbols onto synagogues.
The Justice Department’s press statement is available here; the 2019 criminal complaint is available here and below:
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