The New York Police have arrested James Polite (26), the man in this surveillance picture, in connection with anti Semitic graffiti found inside Union Temple in Prospect Heights. He’s believed to have also set fires outside schuls & yeshivas in Williamsburg. (link)

However, given the increased attention to hate crimes against the Jewish community, conspicuously missing from most media reporting on the arrest is the background of 26-year-old James Polite which was detailed in a 2017 New York Times article:

2017 – Mr. Polite, now 25, still believed that college was the best next step. He found encouragement as a volunteer in his teens, registering voters and canvassing neighborhoods in New York City during Barack Obama’s first presidential bid. Mentors on the campaign trail urged him to pursue higher education. In 2008, at a gay pride rally for Mr. Obama, Mr. Polite met Christine C. Quinn, then the City Council speaker. (link)

PROSPECT HEIGHTS, Brooklyn (WABC) — Police have made an arrest after disturbing messages of hate were found inside a Brooklyn synagogue Thursday evening, the latest in a string of anti-Semitic incidents across the nation. James Polite, 26, is charged with four counts of criminal mischief as a hate crime and making graffiti. Authorities said Friday that Polite was sent to Woodhull Hospital for psychiatric observation. Polite is also charged with a string of arson fires in Williamsburg, including one at a yeshiva and another at a Jewish banquet hall. Graffiti inside the Union Temple on Eastern Parkway in Prospect Heights read “Kill all Jews” and “Hitler,” along with some other horribly offensive language. (read more) December 17, 2017 – New York Times biography