A man has been arrested and charged with defacing public property in D.C. after the vandalizing of a Jewish landmark with anti-Semitic graffiti Friday.
Twenty-eight-year-old Luis Montsinos, of no fixed address, was apprehended Monday afternoon as a suspect in the defacing of the Sixth & I Historic Synagogue with anti-Semitic symbols, according to a D.C. police report.
Police suspect Montsinos is responsible for a hate crime by carving what The Washington Post described as the word “JEW” into a door and painting a swastika onto the synagogue’s steps.
He was apprehended in the 600 block of I Street, NW, just before 4 p.m. and was later identified as the suspect wanted in connection with the synagogue incident three days earlier.
Montsinos now faces four charges related to the defacement and destruction of public property with an anti-Jewish bias, resisting arrest and an outstanding bench warrant from early November.\
In a series of tweets Tuesday morning, Mayor Muriel Bowser denounced the graffiti and expressed support for D.C.’s Jewish community, stating that Sixth & I embodies the city’s values of inclusivity and spirituality.
“That members of our community had to face anti-Semitism during a weekend focused on gratitude is heartbreaking,” Bowser said.
“Hate crimes against any of our communities have no place in D.C. and we will continue to work vigilantly with MPD to pursue every resource to prevent these acts and hold perpetrators accountable.”
