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After James Polite graduated from Brandeis University in May, his followers thought his life could be a turning point.
He had spent much of his childhood in a foster home and lived in no less than 13 homes. He fought against mental illness and addiction while he was trying to finish his studies.
Former City Council President Christine C. Quinn welcomed Polite, 26, in 2008, earning an internship at the Council – where he worked, among other things, to combat crime motivated by hate – and helped him apply to the university.
"He's a young man I've worked with for over a decade," Quinn said Saturday. "With all the setbacks, you were hoping it would be a good turning point. But the opposite has happened. "
Mr. Polite was arrested on Friday and accused of criminal mischief as a hate crime for writing "Die Jew Rats", "Hitler", "End It Now" and "Jew Better Be Ready" to the marker on the walls of the Union Temple in Brooklyn .
Police said the surveillance video captured Polite from Brooklyn inside the synagogue.
He was arrested Friday morning at the scene of a fire that had declared inside the cloakroom of the Beth Hillel Yeshiva in Williamsburg, officials said.
Mr. Polite was charged with arson, reckless endangerment and criminal mischief – all of which constitute hate crimes – for burning fires at four other Jewish community affiliates, including another school. The police recognized Mr. Polite according to the surveillance video of Union Temple.
Saturday afternoon, Mr. Polite was in detention for psychiatric evaluation.
"I'm devastated," Quinn said. "What James has done is horrible and, in some ways, unforgivable."
Vandalism at Union Temple, which came less than a week after a shootout in a Pittsburgh synagogue that killed 11 people, canceled a political event that actress Ilana Glazer had planned to hold. This was part of an increase in antisemitic graffiti in the city.
"People have the right to feel they can worship, be safe and not fear," said Georgia Boothe, vice president of child protection at the Children's Aid Society, who had already helped Mr. Polite. "But I also know that this man is very troubled."
It was at a Gay Pride Rally for Barack Obama on the Town Hall Steps in 2008 where Ms. Quinn met for the first time with Mr. Polite. She offered him the internship after hearing about his story, which was featured last year in a New York Times article on the Neediest Cases Fund, an annual campaign to raise funds to help social service agencies. The help to children is one of eight organizations to receive funding from Neediest Case.
Mr. Polite had been released from his mother's home for the first time while in kindergarten. He fled at age 13 and asked the Children's Services Administration to place him in foster care. The agency found that the conditions at his home were unhealthy and acceded to his request.
Then came a chain of locations. Polite was eventually placed with adoptive parents just before the age of 21, the age when children leave New York's child welfare system. While he was in Brandeis, he struggled to consume marijuana, was forced to stay away, had to rehabilitate himself and get a job. Mr. Polite learned that he was suffering from bipolar disorder and that he was prescribed medication.
But her ability to stay on medication has always been difficult, her relatives said. He had serious psychiatric problems and was struggling with drug use and delusions while he was trying to finish his studies.
"He was a very smart youngster," said Ms. Boothe. "He was really very determined to finish his studies and we wanted to help him." When he graduated in May, it was hoped that Mr. Polite had charted the way forward.
The Children's Aid Society organizes an annual event at its headquarters, where clients who have graduated from university return to serve as "credible messengers" to children still in the system and facing difficulties.
Mr. Polite was invited to speak in July. At first, he was silent and did not say much. So what Karina Melendez, who survived cancer, her parents' divorce, homelessness and, according to her, the physical abuse she suffered from graduating from Columbia University, told her story.
Mr. Polite was so moved that it forced him to talk about his own experience. Watching him speak, Ms. Boothe said that she could say that Mr. Polite was happy to give back. He talked about his own story of struggle and resilience.
After this speech, things collapsed. Polite was living in a homeless shelter at the time of his arrest, friends said. But he believed that the F.B.I., C.I.A. and the Department of Homeland Security had secretly taken over the shelter system.
He had been hospitalized for psychiatric care this summer but could not be placed in hospital. Mr Polite followed his ambulatory care but then stopped going there.
Ms. Quinn, who used to check with Mr. Polite almost daily, was starting to get less news of him. When she spoke to him, his speech and conversations were inconsistent. This meant that he was no longer consuming drugs. And when Mr. Polite was not taking his medication, it was then that some of his ramblings became anti-Semitic.
Speaking generally of young people with whom the Children's Aid Society works and suffering from mental illness, Ms. Boothe explained that stigma prevents some from taking their medications. Or, some begin taking their medication, which helps them stabilize, then feel like they do not need treatment anymore.
It's a vicious circle that she has reviewed over and over again.
But no one thought that Mr. Polite would do what he is accused of doing. Ms. Quinn stated that Mr. Polite had stopped responding to his messages three weeks ago and that she knew something was wrong.
"He ended up acting violently and hated and I'm really sorry. It's heartbreaking, "said Ms. Quinn. "But there is no room for hatred in this city."
Asked last year about his future, Mr. Polite remained uncertain about the evolution of the situation.
"I'm always worried," he said. "Life is coming fast."
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