Nassau County police arrested Saul Amantecatl Sanchez, 26, of Brooklyn, on Tuesday. He is accused of drawing a Nazi swastika on a door at the Marion and Aaron Gural Jewish Community Center in Lawrence, N.Y., in the heart of the Five Towns Orthodox Jewish community, JNS reports.
He is charged with first-degree aggravated harassment and making graffiti. Officers were called to the JCC on Nov. 6 after a swastika was found drawn on a door on the property, according to the police report.
The JCC said its security team went through surveillance footage from several cameras and worked with police to identify him. It said he was on the property making a delivery and allegedly used his finger to draw the swastika on a door in the parking lot. "Based on the information currently available, the incident does not appear to have been premeditated," the JCC said, adding that his employer is cooperating fully with police and that it takes antisemitic incidents seriously "regardless of the circumstances or intent."
"A swastika is not a harmless drawing," Assemblyman Ari Brown (R) told JNS. "There is absolutely no place for it in our community."
Sanchez was released on an appearance ticket and is due in First District Court.
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