Police have charged [someone] for allegedly vandalizing the Manhattan district office of New York Rep. Adriano Espaillat last month.
Espaillat’s office in Washington Heights was splattered with red paint by two people, in an action similar to other recent incidents of anti-Israel vandalism. The two vandals also used hammers to smash the office’s windows, which displays fliers of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.
The incident took place in the predawn hours of Oct. 8, less than two weeks after the office had been hit with anti-Israel graffiti.
Security footage from the Oct. 8 incident showed two masked individuals carrying out the vandalism. The NYPD told the [news source] that police were still seeking the second individual.
The suspect who was arrested was charged with criminal mischief in the 3rd degree, a felony, along with two misdemeanors – making graffiti and possession of graffiti instruments. Court records showed that [the person] pleaded not guilty and has been released on bail.
The NYPD’s Hate Crimes Task Force had investigated the incident, but there were no hate crimes charges in the arrest report. Espaillat is not Jewish.
Espaillat is a Democrat representing Upper Manhattan and part of the Bronx. He has voted for additional aid to Israel and has spoken out in support of Israeli hostages, security funding for Jewish institutions, and Jewish students at Columbia University.
In the two days before the incident, he shared a message of solidarity with families of those held hostage by Hamas, attended the Oct. 7 memorial ceremony in Central Park, and stopped by a neighborhood commemoration event blocks away from his district office. The office is regularly picketed by small groups of pro-Palestinian protesters.
The New York Democratic Congressional Delegation condemned the vandalism shortly after it occurred, saying it came on a day of “solemn reflection” over the Oct. 7 attacks.
In the defacing of Espaillat’s office two weeks before the Oct. 8 incident, vandals scrawled “F— Israel,” “40k dead,” “genocide lover” and “terrorist” in red paint on the storefront office’s window and door. The graffiti also had an inverted red triangle.
Other pro-Israel New York congressmen have had their offices hit with anti-Israel graffiti since Oct. 7, including Reps. Daniel Goldman and Ritchie Torres, both Democrats, and Republican Rep. Mike Lawler.
Found on Mainstream Media
