NJ Man Conspires With White Supremacists To Vandalize Synagogues; Gets Sentenced To Prison

A 20-year-old man in Camden County, New Jersey, will serve just over a year of jail time after he conspired with members of a white supremacist hate group to vandalize properties owned by African Americans and Jewish Americans throughout the country in 2019, state prosecutors announced Tuesday.

Richard Tobin, of Brooklawn, was sentenced to one year and one day in prison in Camden federal court Tuesday, Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Rachael Honig said in a statement.

Tobin had pleaded guilty before District Judge Robert Kugler to an information charging him with conspiracy against rights. Aside from his prison sentence, Tobin was also sentenced to three years of supervised release.

Tobin admitted to being member of the white supremacist group "The Base" between Sept. 15 and Sept. 23 of 2019, according to documents filed in this case and statements made in court. He also said that during that period, he communicated online with and directed other members to destroy as well as vandalize properties affiliated with African Americans and Jewish Americans, the statement read.

The attack was dubbed by Tobin as "Kristallnacht" — German for "Night of Broken Glass." It was a reference to the Nazis' organized massacre of Jewish people and the destruction of Jewish homes, synagogues, stores and schools in Germany over two days in November 1938.

Members of The Base vandalized synagogues in Racine, Wisconsin, and Hancock, Michigan, on Sept. 21, 2019, by spray painting them with hate symbols.

Tobin also previously implored members of the white supremacist group to post propaganda flyers and to break windows as well as slash tires of vehicles owned by African Americans and Jewish Americans.

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement that Tobin intended to "instill fear into those communities across the country."

"Richard Tobin encouraged hateful acts of violence against individuals and their houses of worship, based on their religion or the color of their skin. Justice demanded that he be held accountable for these racist and anti-Semitic actions, and we are proud to have joined with our colleagues in the Civil Rights Division and the Joint Terrorism Task Force in doing so in this case," Honig was quoted as saying.

One of Tobin's conspirators, Yousef Omar Barasneh, also pleaded guilty to conspiracy against rights in federal court in the Eastern District of Wisconsin for his role in vandalizing the synagogue in Racine.