JUNE 20 • 2024 | 29
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athan Weeden,
24, was sentenced
to 26 months in
prison and three subsequent
months of supervised release
on June 4 for conspiring to
discriminate against Jews
and Black people and for
vandalizing a synagogue.
The Houghton, Michigan,
man, who is a member
of the white supremacist
gang The Base, did
more than just destroy
property, stated Larissa
Knapp, executive assistant
director of the FBI’s National
Security Branch.
“The FBI will not
accept hate-driven threats
of violence intended
to emotionally and/or
physically harm victims and
will rigorously investigate
anyone conspiring to
vandalize houses of worship
and intimidate others from
safely practicing their

religion,” she said.
Weeden defaced
Temple Jacob, a Reform
congregation in Hancock,
Michigan, with swastikas
and other hateful symbols
on Sept. 21, 2019, in
what he and fellow white
supremacists called
“Operation Kristallnacht,”
according to the Justice
Department. The 24-year-
old was convicted in January.
Kristallnacht means “night
of broken glass” and refers to
the murder of Jews and the
destruction of their property
by Nazis on Nov. 9 and 10,
1938.
“This sentence sends
a strong message that
threatening and intimidating
people because of their
religion, race or ethnic
characteristics will not be
tolerated in this country,”
said Kristen Clarke, assistant
attorney general in the

Justice Department’s civil
rights office.
“White supremacist-fueled
violence is a stain on our
history and perpetrators of
such violence will be held
accountable. No one should
live in fear because of who
they are, what they believe
or where they worship,”
Clarke added.
“The Justice Department
will continue to investigate
and prosecute those who
desecrate houses of worship
and who conspire to
intimidate people seeking
to exercise the legal rights
guaranteed to all Americans.”
“When hateful words
become hateful acts, my
office will use every tool we
have to protect the public
and secure justice like we
did in this case,” said Mark
Totten, U.S. attorney for
the Western District of
Michigan.

Michigan man gets 26 months for anti-Jewish, racist vandalism.
Temple Jacob Vandal Sentenced

“WHITE
SUPREMACIST-
FUELED
VIOLENCE IS A
STAIN ON OUR
HISTORY AND
PERPETRATORS
OF SUCH
VIOLENCE
WILL BE HELD
ACCOUNTABLE.”

— ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY
GENERAL KRISTEN CLARKE

JNS

Temple Jacob in Hancock, Michigan, was defaced Sept. 21, 2019.