Man sentenced for synagogue vandalism

INDIANAPOLIS — A 21-year-old Eminence man has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for spray-painting anti-Semitic graffiti and lighting fires outside a Carmel synagogue.

U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler says 21-year-old Nolan Brewer of Eminence was sentenced Monday evening for conspiring to violate the civil rights of Congregation Shaarey Tefilla. Minkler announced Tuesday that Brewer pleaded guilty to a federal hate crime.

In original reports shortly after Brewer’s arrest, he was identified as being from Cloverdale. However, it was also noted at the time that he lived in Morgan County.

“The sentence handed down yesterday sends a clear message that society cannot, and will not, tolerate those who terrorize others for their religious beliefs,” Minkler said.

Nazi flags and iron crosses were found spray-painted July 28 on a brick shed outside the synagogue in Carmel, just north of Indianapolis. Several areas of the grass and ground around the shed were also scorched, leaving burn residue on part of the shed.

According a release from Minkler’s office, Brewer intended to break into the synagogue and set fire to the building but changed his plans when he noticed security cameras and lights.

Brewer told FBI investigators he wanted to make “news headlines” and “spark more radicalism.”

The DOJ reported that several co-workers of Brewer’s testified that he openly identified with Nazism and white supremacy. He reportedly wore a swastika necklace and spoke highly of Adolf Hitler.

Witnesses said he also bragged about what he had done in the time between the attack and his arrest.

An originally “unnamed co-conspirator” in the case is reported to have been Brewer’s wife. The Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office told the Indianapolis Star last year that she faced charges of criminal mischief and arson. The status of that case is unknown.

The crime made headlines around the state and beyond, with Gov. Eric Holcomb even citing the incident this spring in asking the legislature to pass a hate crimes bill.