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An arrest has been made after a synagogue in Carmel was defaced.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced the arrest at a press conference at 1 p.m. on Thursday. The FBI and Carmel Police Department were also at the announcement.
Nolan Brewer, 20, Cloverdale, has been charged with conspiracy to violate civil rights, a federal crime.
Investigators say security video shows Brewer and someone else buying red and black spray paint and bandanas the day before the incident. Prosecutors say other evidence also links them to the crime.
Prosecutors also said Brewer’s partner is also under arrest but they will not give a name.
A Nazi flag and other symbols were spray painted on a brick wall at the Congregation Shaarey Tefilla on 116th Street last month.
According to court records, Brewer admitted he and his partner in the crime used homemade napalm to light a fire under the swastika to create an “effect.” Investigators said they found pictures of the vandalism on his phone.
Court documents state when Indiana State Police stopped Brewer in his car on Wednesday, he was wearing a military-style camouflage jacket with a German flag on the shoulder.
Brewer’s cellphone records indicate he received a text after the incident that said, “We made CNN, Fox, IndyStar, WTHR, etc. Mike Pence even tweeted about us.”
According to a court document, Brewer admitted to investigators that he conspired to paint Nazi graffiti at the synagogue. It also states Brewer told investigators he committed the crime because the synagogue is “full of ethnic Jews.”
Brewer is currently in custody of federal marshals and is facing a 10-year sentence.