Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

New Jersey Neo-Nazi Charged With Ordering Vandalism Of Two Midwest Synagogues

(JTA) — A New Jersey man, 18, was arrested and held without bond for allegedly ordering the vandalism of two synagogues in other states.

Richard Tobin is accused of using a neo-Nazi social network called The Base to find volunteers to for the September graffiti attacks on synagogues in Michigan and Wisconsin, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

Tobin also allegedly said he planned the attacks as part of nationwide campaign he called “Operation Kristallnacht,” a reference to the 1938 pogrom against Jewish homes, synagogues and Jewish owned-owned businesses in Germany and Austria.

Tobin also confessed to driving to a New Jersey mall with a machete that he planned to use to kill black shoppers.

A complaint filed Tuesday by the FBI charges Tobin with conspiring with a hate group against the rights of minorities, including Jews, NJ.com reported.

The group calls itself a “white protection league” and advocates for a country populated only by white people. Its members practice “doomsday prepping,” or preparing for the end of the world, and participate in military training. The group’s symbol references a failed 1923 German coup led by Adolf Hitler, according to the FBI.

The court filings have not named the people who attacked the two synagogues.

Tobin appeared in federal court in Camden, New Jersey on Friday. U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen M. Williams ordered Tobin held pending a mental health evaluation and scheduled a detention hearing scheduled for next month.

A message from our Publisher & CEO 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.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.