Suspect Charged With Ethnic Intimidation For Chesco Racist Graffiti: Cops

COATESVILLE, PA — Police have arrested a self-proclaimed white supremacist for spraying racist and Nazi graffiti in Chester County, according to Coatesville Police.

George F. Rissell, 24, of Strode Avenue, now faces charges of ethnic intimidation and criminal mischief in connection with the vandalism, police said.

A total of five locations throughout Coatesville and three in Valley Township were vandalized, police said.

Rissell "has claimed past associations" with white supremacy groups, authorities found.

"The City of Coatesville Council, Administration, and Police Department would again like to declare our disgust with the racially insensitive nature of the graffiti that the accused placed around the City and Valley Township," police said in a statement upon arrest. "These beliefs are not held by the concerned citizens of both municipalities, and conduct such as that displayed by Rissell will always be met with immediate public condemnation and aggressive investigation."

>>Racist Graffiti Investigated Across Chester County

An incident that appears to be unrelated was also reported in Downingtown this week. A park bench was sprayed was vandalized with racial slurs. Downingtown Mayor Josh Maxwell said the bench was quickly painted over by public works crews.

Incidents of racist graffiti and Nazi imagery have been widespread across the region and the country over the past year. Just after the election last year, storefronts in Philadelphia were vandalized. And then in May, tombstones at a Jewish cemetery were vandalized.

Patch file photo