A convicted rapist was ruled on allegedly spray graffiti throughout the city and then recorded hate crimes on social media to promote fear.
John Williams, 30, was arrested Sunday and was arrested at the Ventura County Jail on suspicion of vandalism, hate crimes and parole violations, according to the Ventura Police Department.
“It seems Williams is spraying the magician and then taking photos and uploading them to social media to show that others are committing hate crimes and spreading fear,” the department said in a statement.
Williams was convicted of rape in 2019 for pleading guilty to the 2015 crime, according to court records. At the time of his recent arrest, he was released on parole for rape convictions, police department spokesman CMDR. Sarah Heard confirmed.
Court records show the suspected serial Vastica spray painter has a history of parole violations. According to the county’s prisoner log, he was booked on parole and booked in Ventura County Jail 10 days before his recent vandalism.
On Sunday morning, the department received a call from a business in the 1000 block of East Street near downtown Ventura, reporting that someone sprayed a swastika on the walls of its property. Police said officials reviewed surveillance camera videos of the crime and identified the suspect as Williams.
Then they received four more calls about swastikas sprayed on public and private property across the city.
While investigating the first vandalism, police found Williams riding an electric scooter near Main and Ash Street. They said they stopped and found evidence that linked him to the crime.
Williams will hold on $250,000 bail and plans to appear in court on Wednesday, according to the county’s inmate log.
According to the inmate, he was booked for four counts of felony sabotage, one misdemeanor, one misdemeanor hate crime, one felony breach of parole and one misdemeanor count of a shocked gun on a previous felony charge.
The United States has seen important The surge in anti-Semitic hate crimes and vandalism in recent years.
He started on October 7, 2023 after the Israel-Hamas War According to reports, the Anti-Defamation Alliance reported In the United States, there are more than 10,000 anti-Semitism incidents – a 200% increase over previous years, with the highest number. This includes more than 1,840 incidents of anti-Semitic vandalism.
Los Angeles County see Anti-Semitic hate crimes increase by 91% This is the latest year for available data from 2022 to 2023. From 124, the number of incidents rose from 124 to 242.
A Los Angeles man accused of Spray paint swastikas On more than a dozen vehicles. exist Santa Monica,,,,, West Hollywood,,,,, San Dimas,,,,, Calabasas On campus University of Southern California and UCLA.
