(JTA) — A teenager was indicted for the anti-Semitic vandalism of a Jewish cemetery in upstate New York more than a year ago.
On Monday, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office charged Eric Carbonaro, 18, of Warwick, with fifth-degree conspiracy as a hate crime and two counts of tampering with physical evidence, both felonies.
Carbonaro is accused of spray-painting the wall of the Beth Shalom Cemetery in Warwick with anti-Semitic graffiti including swastikas, “Heil Hitler” and Nazi SS symbols on Oct. 9, 2016. Warwick is located about 90 minutes north of Manhattan.
A conspiracy count in the indictment charges that Carbonaro conspired with others to commit third-degree criminal mischief as a hate crime, and also includes the evidence tampering charge.
The indictment says Carbonaro deleted photos and other information about the vandalism from the phones of two others, according to the Times Herald-Record, including a meme that read “secretly spray paints Jewish cemetery and gets away with it.”
Two alleged co-conspirators were not named in the indictment.
“There is no room for this type of hateful desecration of religious property here in Orange County,” District Attorney David Hoovler said in a statement. “These anti-Semitic symbols and messages do not reflect the values of the overwhelming majority of Orange County and Warwick residents.”
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