Wannabe Jew Admits Painting Swastikas On His Own Home
(JTA) — A would=be Jewish convert in upstate New York admitted to spray-painting swastikas and hate messages on his own home.
Andrew King, who is not Jewish but wears a kippah, pleaded guilty last week in Schenectady City Court to week to falsely reporting an incident, which is a misdemeanor crime, the Albany Times Union reported Tuesday.
He will be sentenced to three years of probation at his sentencing hearing in October, according to the newspaper.
King reported the vandalism on his home to police on February 10. He was arrested after a five-week investigation by police and pleaded not guilty at his arraignment. The report of the vandalism came after several reports of anti-Semitic vandalism around the state.
“A falsely reported hate crime is in one sense as bad as a real crime,” Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney said in a statement.
Jewish leaders in Schenectady say that King, who was interviewed by the local media in front of his defaced home wearing a kippah, is not Jewish. He tried to convert several times but was rejected by at least two congregations, according to local ABC affiliate, News10.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO