A 49-year-old man who previously claimed to be Jewish has been charged with multiple hate crimes for allegedly vandalizing a San Fernando Valley business with anti-Semitic graffiti.
According to a May 5 press release from the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, Amos Hason is charged with three counts of suspicion of vandalism and three counts of suspicion of committing a hate crime against a Jewish business owner. He was arrested over the weekend and could face up to three years behind bars if he’s successfully convicted.
City Attorney Mike Feuer said in a statement: “This case is a stark reminder that there is still hate in our society, and we must strike back against it every time it emerges.”
Prosecutors indicated that surveillance videos show Hason driving to the location and painting swastikas and other anti-Semitic slurs on the fence and trash bin behind a San Fernando Valley business on two separate instances last month, with the sole intention of targeting the business’s Jewish owner. According to the city attorney’s office, among the anti-Semitic graffiti was the message, “Adolf was right. Kill Jews!”
“He has criminal history and was arrested with a weapon,” Feuer said. “He allegedly has been involved in a hate crime; that’s a very dangerous combination.”
The city attorney’s office stated that Hanson was previously prosecuted twice by the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office. He was convicted last year of possession of a zip gun, and in 2008 was found guilty of “possessing a deadly weapon with the intent to assault another.”
According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, Hason identified himself as Jewish in a previous federal lawsuit in which he claimed that his civil rights had been violated.
