An alleged member of a white supremacist group was arrested Sunday after swastikas and hate messages were spray-painted on five homes in Nashville’s Sylvan Park last year.
A 19-year-old from Alabama, who has not been named by police, is the suspect in the case. Surveillance video of the vandalism showed two people wearing masks when the vandalism occurred in the early morning hours of March 19, 2023.
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The arrested suspect is “an alleged member of a white supremacist group,” according to a news release from the Nashville Police Department.
The indictment includes five counts of vandalism, five counts of engaging in a criminal conspiracy, five counts of criminal trespass, five counts of civil rights harassment and one count of theft.
The suspect was 17 when the alleged crimes occurred, police said.
Video from one of the homes showed two masked men approaching the porch, police said. Police say one of the individuals sprayed paint over the camera lens before spraying hate messages on the property and taking down a Colombian flag.
Detectives had information that the 19-year-old was likely to attend a concert event in the Madison area on Sunday evening.
The suspect was spotted and arrested without any problems.
Police said the vandalism occurred at homes on Westlawn Drive and Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado and Idaho avenues.
Reach Andy Humbles at ahumbles@tennessean.com or 615-726-5939 and on X, formerly known as Twitter @AndyHumbles.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville makes arrest over 2023 swastikas, hate messages in Sylvan Park
