Suspect arrested after several swastikas spray-painted in Lower Manhattan

LOWER MANHATTAN (WABC) — A man accused of a hateful vandalism spree in Lower Manhattan was arrested on Thursday.

Police said that James Ryan, 39, is charged with multiple counts of aggravated harassment and criminal mischief as a hate crime.

⚠️Arrest Update
HCTF Detectives, assisted by @NYPD1Pct, arrested this individual for drawing multiple swastikas, including on a City Hall pillar and the Charging Bull Statue.
Arrested:
Ryan, James T, 39
Undomiciled
Charges:
Aggravated Harassment X4
Criminal Mischief/Hate Crime X5 https://t.co/VaIzWoNj19 pic.twitter.com/VhVg1fosuT

— NYPD Hate Crimes (@NYPDHateCrimes) December 17, 2021

Video released earlier in the week showed the vandal drawing a swastika on a pillar at City Hall at the corner of Beekman Street and Park Row on Monday around 6:30 p.m.

Police say the next night, on December 14 at 10:09 p.m., the same man spray painted a swastika on the Charging Bull statue. He was spotted fleeing northbound on Morris Street.

He’s also accused of drawing three swastikas on the wall of a construction site on Maiden Lane back on December 3.

Governor Kathy Hochul was so outraged by this crime spree, she released a statement:

“I am appalled and disgusted that a swastika was scrawled on the wall of the Brooklyn Bridge – City Hall subway station. No one should walk the streets in fear of hate, bigotry and antisemitism. An attack on a Jewish New Yorker is an attack on all of us. If you commit a hate crime, you are picking a fight with 20 million New Yorkers. We are united in saying that hate has no home here in New York. I am directing the New York State Police to assist in this ongoing investigation.”

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