Vandal who smashed up Rutgers Islamic center gets 6 months in prison
The New Jersey man who vandalized the Rutgers Islamic center last year was sentenced on Wednesday to six months in prison.
Jacob Beacher, 25, was also fined $19,345 and will be placed under supervised release for one year after he gets released, reported the Central New Jersey Home News Tribune.
Beacher, a North Plainfield resident, had been out on bail despite pleading guilty in October 2024 to the federal hate crime of destroying religious property.
On April 10, 2024, the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid-al-Fitr, Beacher broke into the Center for Islamic Life on Rutgers' New Brunswick campus. No one was inside the building when Beacher entered around 3 a.m., but he damaged about $40,000 worth of property inside, according to authorities.
Beacher targeted several religious artifacts and items that contained holy language from the Quran, cops said. Additionally, he stole a Palestinian flag and a charity box belonging to the center.
'Jacob Beacher admitted he intentionally broke into the Center for Islamic Life during the holy Eid-al-Fitr holiday and damaged and destroyed religious artifacts because of the Islamic faith of those associated with the facility,' then-New Jersey U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger said when Beacher pleaded guilty.
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