Houghton man gets prison for anti-Semitic graffiti on U.P. synagogue as part of neo-Nazi plot [Video]

MARQUETTE, Mich. (WJMN) — A Houghton man was sentenced to 26 months in prison for spray-painting anti-Semitic language on a synagogue in the Keweenaw Peninsula as part of a plot by a multi-state neo-Nazi group.

Earlier this year Nathan Weeden, now 23-years-old, was convicted on charges of damaging religious property and conspiring against rights for his part in defacing Temple Jacob in Hancock, MI in 2019.

Swastikas and symbols associated with The Base, a white supremacist group, were sprayed on the outside of Temple Jacob in Hancock in the Upper Peninsula, prosecutors said after his conviction.

“There needs to be a clear message that if you participate in these activities, there will be accountability,” said Mark Totten, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan. “Some might describe this incident as mere graffiti, but of course, that’s not what is happening. The whole point of the destruction of religious property, …