Wisconsin man pleads guilty to vandalizing synagogue

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MILWAUKEE (AP) — A Wisconsin man has pleaded guilty to vandalizing a synagogue last year as part of a neo-Nazi plot, federal prosecutors said Thursday.

Yousef Barasneh, 22, of Oak Creek, pleaded guilty Wednesday to a federal civil rights charge, U.S. Attorney Matthew Krueger of the Eastern District of Wisconsin said.

According to court documents, Barasneh was part of a neo-Nazi, white supremacist group known as “The Base.” Authorities said Barasneh took part in online group chats with other Base members in which they agreed to threaten and intimidate African Americans and Jewish Americans.

Prosecutors said on Sept. 21, Barasneh went to a Racine, Wisconsin, synagogue and spray-painted anti-Semitic words and phrases as well as a swastika and the symbol for “The Base” on the building.

“Violence and intimidation motivated by white supremacist ideology are abhorrent and have no place in this country,” Krueger said in a statement.

Barasneh faces up to 10 years in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine when he is sentenced Nov. 23.