Somerset County man charged with federal hate crime for breaking into Center for Islamic Life at Rutgers University and destroying property
NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ (Middlesex County) — A Somerset County man has been charged with a federal hate crime for breaking into the Center for Islamic Life at Rutgers University (CILRU) in New Brunswick and destroying property, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger for the District of New Jersey, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, and New Jersey State Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced Monday.
Jacob Beacher, 24, was arrested Monday morning and charged with one count of intentional or attempted obstruction of religious practice and one count of making false statements to federal authorities. Beacher is scheduled to have his initial appearance monday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge André M. Espinosa in Newark federal court, authorities said.
According to the criminal complaint, on April 10, during the Eid-al-Fitr holiday, Beacher broke into the CILRU around 2:41 a.m., where he damaged the CILRU’s property, including several religious artifacts, such as Turbah prayer stones, which are clay stones on which Muslims prostrate during prayer, and numerous other items that contained holy language from the Qur’an, Islam’s sacred scripture.
The complaint also alleges that Beacher stole a Palestinian flag and a charity box belonging to the CILRU.
