Beverly Hills Synagogue Vandalism: PA Man Pleads No Contest

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — A Pennsylvania man was ordered to pay more than $166,000 in restitution after pleading no contest Thursday to vandalizing a Beverly Hills synagogue.

Anton Nathaniel Redding, 25, of Millersville, Pa., was immediately sentenced to 220 days in county jail, ordered to complete a 12-month residential treatment program and serve five years on probation, along with the restitution order, following his plea to a felony count of vandalism of religious property, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

Redding was located in Kona, Hawaii and held in custody without bail until an extradition hearing authorized his transfer back to California.

On Dec. 14, 2019, Redding entered the Nessah Synagogue, a Persian Jewish synagogue and cultural center located near the Downtown Triangle, at around 2 a.m. He overturned furniture and damaged several sacred relics. Members told the Los Angeles Times that they found papers and fliers from the lobby strewn across the lobby.

“This cowardly attack hits at the heart of who we are as a community,” then-Mayor John Mirisch said in a statement. “It is not just an attack on the Jewish Community of Beverly Hills; it’s an attack on all of us. The entire City stands in solidarity behind Nessah, its members and congregants.”

The attack came at a time of record anti-Semitic violence and hate crimes. It occurred just four days after three civilians were killed at a kosher market in Jersey City, N.J. by two gun-wielding assailants, and two weeks before a masked man invaded the home of a Hasidic rabbi in Monsey, N.Y. and began stabbing guests at a Hanukkah party. Five men were wounded, and one man died.

Closer to home, three Jewish schools along Mulholland Drive right near the American Jewish University were vandalized with spray paint just two days later. The tires of nearby cars were also slashed.

According to the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish community experienced the highest level of anti-Semitic incidents in 2019 since the organization began keeping track in 1979. 2,100 acts of assault, vandalism, and harassment were reported across the United States.

— City News Service and Patch staffer Michael Wittner contributed to this report

Related coverage:

• Beverly Hills Synagogue Ransacked By Vandal; Suspect Sought
• Westside Jewish Schools, Cars Hit With Anti-Semitic Graffiti
• Arrest Made In Beverly Hills Synagogue Vandalism