Man gets six months in jail for vandalizing an Islamic center at Rutgers University
A New Jersey man has been sentenced to six months in jail for breaking into a Rutgers University Islamic center on the Muslim holiday of Eid-al-Fitr and vandalizing it.
Jacob Beacher, of North Plainfield, will also have to serve a year of supervised release once he gets out under the terms of the sentence he received Tuesday. He pleaded guilty in October to the federal hate crime of damaging religious property.
Beacher initially was charged in April 2024 with single counts of intentional or attempted obstruction of religious practice and making false statements to federal authorities. The charges stemmed from a break-in at the Center for Islamic Life at Rutgers University in New Brunswick.
Prosecutors have said Beacher damaged property at the site, including several religious artifacts and numerous other items that contained holy language from the Quran, Islam's sacred scripture. Authorities said Beacher also stole a Palestinian flag and a charity box belonging to the center.
Beacher is not affiliated with Rutgers, officials have said.
The site was unoccupied when the break-in occurred around 2:40 a.m., prosecutors said. The overall damage was estimated at $40,000.
While speaking with the FBI two days after the break-in, Beacher said he was the person seen near the center in surveillance video, but he denied breaking into the site. The incident came a few weeks after the state attorney general's office had reported a recent spike in bias incidents in New Jersey.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
11 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Saudi Arabia executes a journalist after 7 years behind bars. Activists say it was over his tweets.
According to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, Saudi authorities maintained that Al-Jasser was behind a social media account on X, formerly Twitter, that levied corruption allegations against Saudi royals. Al-Jasser was also said to have posted several controversial tweets about militants and militant groups. Advertisement CPJ's program director Carlos Martínez de la Serna condemned the execution and said the lack of accountability in the wake of the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in 2018 allows for continued persecution of journalists in the kingdom. 'The international community's failure to deliver justice for Jamal Khashoggi did not just betray one journalist,' he said, adding it had 'emboldened de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to continue his persecution of the press.' Al-Jasser's 'execution once again demonstrates that in Saudi Arabia, the punishment for criticizing or questioning Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is death,' said Jeed Basyouni, head of the Middle East and North Africa section at Reprieve, an international anti-death penalty advocacy group. Advertisement Basyouni added that Al-Jasser was tried and convicted 'in total secrecy for the 'crime' of journalism.' A Saudi assassination team killed Khashoggi at the consulate in Istanbul. The U.S. intelligence community concluded that the Saudi crown prince ordered the operation but the kingdom insists the prince was not involved in the killing. Al-Jasser ran a personal blog from 2013 to 2015 and was well-known for his articles on the Arab Spring movements that shook the Middle East in 2011, women's rights and corruption. Saudi Arabia has drawn criticism from human rights groups for its numbers and also methods of capital punishment, including beheadings and mass executions. In 2024, executions in Saudi Arabia rose to 330, according to activists and human rights groups, as the kingdom continues to tightly clamp down on dissent. Last month, a British Bank of America analyst was sentenced to a decade in prison in Saudi Arabia, apparently over a since-deleted social media post, according to his lawyer. And in 2021, a dual Saudi American national, Saad Almadi, was arrested and later sentenced to more than 19 years in prison on terrorism-related charges stemming from tweets he had posted while living in the United States. He was released in 2023 but has been banned from leaving the kingdom.
11 hours ago
Saudi Arabia executes a journalist after 7 years behind bars
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- A prominent Saudi journalist who was arrested in 2018 and convicted on terrorism and treason charges has been executed, the kingdom said. Activist groups maintain that the charges against him were trumped up. Turki Al-Jasser, who was in his late 40s, was put to death on Saturday, according to the official Saudi Press Agency, after the death penalty was upheld by the nation's top court. Authorities had raided Al-Jasser's home in 2018, arresting him and seizing his computer and phones. It was not clear where his trial took place or how long it lasted. According to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, Saudi authorities maintained that Al-Jasser was behind a social media account on X, formerly Twitter, that levied corruption allegations against Saudi royals. Al-Jasser was also said to have posted several controversial tweets about militants and militant groups. CPJ's program director Carlos Martínez de la Serna condemned the execution and said the lack of accountability in the wake of the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul in 2018 allows for continued persecution of journalists in the kingdom. 'The international community's failure to deliver justice for Jamal Khashoggi did not just betray one journalist,' he said, adding it had 'emboldened de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to continue his persecution of the press.' Al-Jasser's 'execution once again demonstrates that in Saudi Arabia, the punishment for criticizing or questioning Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is death,' said Jeed Basyouni, head of the Middle East and North Africa section at Reprieve, an international anti-death penalty advocacy group. Basyouni added that Al-Jasser was tried and convicted 'in total secrecy for the 'crime' of journalism.' A Saudi assassination team killed Khashoggi at the consulate in Istanbul. The U.S. intelligence community concluded that the Saudi crown prince ordered the operation but the kingdom insists the prince was not involved in the killing. Al-Jasser ran a personal blog from 2013 to 2015 and was well-known for his articles on the Arab Spring movements that shook the Middle East in 2011, women's rights and corruption. Saudi Arabia has drawn criticism from human rights groups for its numbers and also methods of capital punishment, including beheadings and mass executions. In 2024, executions in Saudi Arabia rose to 330, according to activists and human rights groups, as the kingdom continues to tightly clamp down on dissent. Last month, a British Bank of America analyst was sentenced to a decade in prison in Saudi Arabia, apparently over a since-deleted social media post, according to his lawyer. And in 2021, a dual Saudi American national, Saad Almadi, was arrested and later sentenced to more than 19 years in prison on terrorism-related charges stemming from tweets he had posted while living in the United States. He was released in 2023 but has been banned from leaving the kingdom.
New York Post
a day ago
- New York Post
IDF warns ‘Tehran will burn' after Iranian missiles kill three in Israel
Iran's capital city 'will burn' if the Islamic republic continues to rain missiles down on the Jewish State, Israel warned Saturday, as the IDF proclaimed it had decimated the country's air defenses overnight. Israel Defense Forces posted video early Saturday showing some of its targets in Tehran as the warring countries exchanged missiles following Israel's unprecedented attack on Iran's nuclear capabilities and military leadership. 'Over the past 24 hours, the Navy's missile ships, the air defense system, and the Air Force's fighter jets and helicopters have intercepted dozens of unmanned aerial vehicles launched from Iran toward the State of Israel,' the IDF wrote in a post. 3 A destroyed building is pictured at a site in Tel Aviv hit by a missile fired from Iran on June 14. AFP via Getty Images At least three Israelis have been killed and dozens of others injured as the two countries traded fire over Tel Aviv, prompting the stark warning from Israel. 'If [Iranian Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei continues to fire missiles at the Israeli home front — Tehran will burn,' IDF Defense Minister Israel Katz said after an assessment meeting with the army's chief of staff. Khamenei remained unfazed, however, stating Iran will remain strong in its retaliation. 'We will not allow them to escape safely from this great crime they committed,' Khamenei said in a video message after Israel's surprise attack early Friday that killed at least 20 senior Iranian commanders, sources said, including the head of its Revolutionary Guard. Two of the Israeli victims — including Yisrael Aloni, 73 — died when their homes in the suburb of Rishon Lezion were struck by Iranian rockets, according to Israel's paramedic service Magen David Adom. 3 Israel warned that 'Tehran will burn' if it continues its attacks on the Jewish State. AFP via Getty Images Thirty-four people were wounded in the barrage on the Tel Aviv area, including a woman who was critically injured after being trapped under rubble. Israel's main international airport will remain closed until further notice, officials said Saturday. The IDF said it carried out its own barrage of overnight strikes on dozens of targets, including air defenses, 'in the area of Tehran.' 3 At least three people in Israel have been killed. REUTERS On Saturday, Israel revealed it had killed nine scientists and experts involved in Iran's nuclear program during its initial surprise attack Friday, up from the originally reported six victims. The IDF identified the newly confirmed casualties as Bakhouei Karimi, Mansour Asgari, and Saeed Barji, experts in mechanics, physics and materials engineers, respectively. Another 70 people, including military leaders, were killed in the strikes, with an estimated 320 wounded. Both Israel and Iran said their attacks would continue, raising the prospect of another protracted Mideast conflict — with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stating Friday that his objective was to eliminate any Iranian threat to Israel. With Post Wires
