Police in the northeast Italian city of Trieste analyzed security videos to identify and arrest a man suspected of vandalizing the city’s synagogue twice in the past few months.

The suspect was accused of breaking two windows “for the purposes of ethnic-religious hatred,” police said.

A statement issued this week said careful analysis of the video enabled police to identify the suspect, an unemployed Italian man around 30 years old who was already “known to the police.”

Individuato l’autore dei danneggiamenti alla Sinagoga di via San Francesco.Due gli episodi all'attenzione degli investigatori, il primo avvenuto il 24 ottobre scorso, seguito da un secondo accaduto soltanto pochi giorni fa.Si tratta di un’ uomo, italiano con precedenti di polizia, che dopo aver infranto un vetro e incrinato con un pugno una struttura di metallo del Tempio israelitico, rivolto alle telecamere si è fatto prima il segno della croce e poi ha mimato una pistola, in segno di minaccia.Le indagini della DIGOS, coordinate dalla Procura della Repubblica, sono risultate particolarmente complesse tenuto conto della difficoltà dovuta alla qualità delle immagini dell’impianto di videosorveglianza, non agevolata dall’orario serale in cui i gesti si sono verificati.Al termine di un meticoloso lavoro di analisi di traffici telematici ed una costante attività di controllo del territorio nelle vie cittadine, l’autore è stato individuato ed ha confessato dinanzi agli investigatori spiegando come le condotte avessero un significato ed una valenza mistico-religiosa.Al termine della Conferenza Stampa, il Questore Giuseppe Petronzi ha sottolineato l’importanza dell’attività svolta dai poliziotti, che ha consentito, in tempi brevi, di fermare l’uomo i cui comportamenti hanno destato particolari preoccupazioni, alla comunità ebraica, ed in generale, alla città di Trieste.

Posted by Questura di Trieste on Wednesday, 15 January 2020

They said he punched out exterior windows at the synagogue on October 24, 2019, and January 3, 2020. Trieste Police posted security videos on its Facebook page showing the man walking back and forth in front of the synagogue and jumping up on its wall. He also turns to the camera, makes the sign of the cross and mimics shooting a pistol.

The police announcement said the man, whose name was not released, confessed to the vandalism, saying it had a “mystical-religious meaning.” Local media reported that when police detained the man, he shouted anti-Semitic invective at them, including “I would kill all Jews — If you were Jews and we were at war, I would kill you both.”

Source: Times of Israel

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