Police in San Leandro, California, arrested a 25-year-old on Monday on suspicion of vandalizing a neighbor’s dwelling with anti-Asian graffiti.
The incident, which occurred over the weekend, noticed racist messages spray-painted onto a realtor signal and storage door exterior a neighborhood dwelling that was within the means of being bought.
Nicholas Swyers was arrested with out incident at round 1:30 a.m. Monday on suspicion of a hate crime, the San Leandro Police Division stated in a press launch.
Police stated Swyers lives on the identical block as the house that was focused. The house was “within the means of being bought,” they stated, with the owners, realtor and most up-to-date tenants all being of Asian descent.
The police division stated officers first responded to the scene at round 9 p.m. Saturday and located that the realtor signal had been spray-painted with an anti-Asian slur.
They returned at round 7 a.m. Sunday and located the storage door of the identical residence had been spray-painted with the identical message.
The division stated proof uncovered in the course of the execution of a search warrant appeared to hyperlink Swyers to the vandalism.
“That is an unlucky reminder that hate and racism do exist,” Lt. Matthew Barajas stated.
“However, that is additionally a reminder that the San Leandro Police Division will unequivocally not stand for this habits and dedicate the required sources to deliver these perpetrators to justice.”
The case is predicted to be offered to the Alameda County District Legal professional’s Workplace on Tuesday, the San Leandro Police Division stated.
The incident comes amid a rise in hate crimes within the U.S., together with these concentrating on the Asian American neighborhood.
An evaluation of hate crime information printed earlier this yr by the Heart for the Research of Hate and Extremism discovered that anti-Asian hate crimes had risen by 339 p.c final yr in contrast with the yr earlier than.
The surge was a part of an total 11 p.c enhance in suspected hate crimes reported to police throughout a dozen of the biggest cities within the nation. The report discovered that Black Individuals remained essentially the most focused group in most cities.
