A man accused of uttering hate speech in the Brooklyn Synagogue was a former intern of the city council president



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What you need to know

  • The man accused of scribbling antisemitic graffiti in a Brooklyn synagogue was a former intern of Christine Quinn.

  • Quinn, a former city council president and former mayoral candidate, said she was "simply and totally devastated."

  • As a trainee at Quinn, he has worked "on initiatives to combat hate crimes, sexual assault and domestic violence," the Times reported.

The man arrested for scribbling antisemitic graffiti in a Brooklyn synagogue was an intern of former city council president and former mayoral candidate Christine Quinn for several years.

James Polite, 26, was arrested on Friday after hate messages were discovered at Union Temple in Prospect Heights.

A spokeswoman for Women in Need, the homelessness service provider that Quinn is now president and CEO, confirmed Saturday that Polite was the former Quinn intern featured in the New York Times last year.

During his internship as a trainee in Quinn, he worked "on initiatives to combat hate crimes, sexual assault and domestic violence," the Times reported.

Polite, who met Quinn at a gay pride rally for Barack Obama, "spent much of his childhood in a foster home," battled a drug addiction problem and received a diagnosis of bipolar disorder while he was attending a rehab program after being absent. college in 2015, according to the Times.

In a statement posted on Twitter, Quinn said that she was "simply and completely devastated."

"I know this young man and many other members of New York City Council and social service agencies in the city did everything I could to help him throughout his childhood in the family system. 'Home. and out of the mental health system, and in and out of homelessness, "she wrote.

"The acts of which he is accused break my heart and devastate us all, we who have tried to help him to stay strong over the years. And even though he has experienced hardships that most people can not imagine, his actions are inexcusable. "

"I support the Jewish community today and every day, and I pray for all New Yorkers who deserve the fundamental right to enter their place of worship without fear for their lives," she added.

In addition to graffiti in the synagogue, Polite reportedly fired several fires in the area, including one in another synagogue, according to repressive sources.

After the discovery of the graffiti, the synagogue canceled a political event organized by the star of "Broad City", Ilana Glazer.

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