(NewsNation) — A jury found a Michigan man guilty for defacing a Jewish synagogue with swastikas and other white supremacist symbols.
Nathan Weeden, 23, was a member of the white supremacist group The Base. The Base is a neo-Nazi group that seeks to train members in preparation for a race war and encourages anarchy so that it may have an excuse to impose order.
Weeden and his co-conspirators used an encrypted messaging platform to make plans to vandalize property, which they called “Operation Kristallnacht.” In German, Kristallnacht means night of broken glass and is used to refer to events where Nazis murdered Jewish people, burned and destroyed their homes, schools, synagogues, schools and places of business on Nov. 9 and 10, 1938.
The operation would target property associated with African Americans and Jewish Americans. On Sep. 21, 2019, Weedon painted swastikas and other white supremacist symbols on Temple Jacob, a synagogue in Hancock, Michigan.
“People of all faiths deserve to feel safe in their communities,” said Special Agent in Charge Cheyvoryea Gibson of the FBI Detroit Field Office. “The FBI and our law enforcement partners will continue to hold those accountable whose hate-filled aggression violates the civil rights of others.”
Weeden was convicted of one count of conspiring to injure, oppress, threaten or intimidate any person in the exercise of their rights and one count of intentionally defacing, damaging or destroying religious property because of the race or ethnic characteristics of individuals associated with that property.
Richard Tobin of New Jersey and Yousef Barasneh of Wisconsin, Weeden’s co-conspirators previously pleaded guilty to crimes related to the incident.
