Eugene man arrested, charged with federal hate crime for repeatedly defacing synagogue

A Eugene man has been charged with a federal hate crime for intentionally defacing a Eugene synagogue several times over a five-month period.

Adam Edward Braun, 34, a resident of Eugene, has been charged by federal criminal complaint with intentionally defacing a synagogue because it was a place of religious worship for Jewish people.

According to court documents, on four separate occasions between August 2023 and January 2024, Braun is alleged to have intentionally defaced Temple Beth Israel, a Jewish synagogue in Eugene, by repeatedly targeting the synagogue with graffiti, some of which used antisemitic symbols and phrases.

Braun’s pattern of behavior culminated in the early morning hours of Jan. 14, 2024, when he traveled to Temple Beth Israel with a hammer and prepared to swing at the glass doors of the synagogue. Braun stopped when he saw he was being recorded by a surveillance camera, and then moved to a different area of the property and used spray paint to write “White Power” in large letters on the building’s exterior.

Read more: KTVZ