Man Who Painted Racist Graffiti In Chesco Sentenced To Prison

A Chester County man has been sentenced to time behind bars for spray-painting racist graffiti around the area.

George Rissell, 24, of Coatesville, will spend the next four and a half to nine years in prison, according to court documents. He was found guilty of one count of misdemeanor ethnic intimidation, and three counts of misdemeanor criminal mischief.

The incidents occurred last August in both Coatesville and Valley Township.

Three sites were vandalized in the western part of Coatesville, according to authorities: a car, a garage door, and the wall of a convenience store on Valley Road and Stroud Avenue.

In Valley Township, the vandalism occurred on streets signs and the street itself.

"Our community can do better; this isn't the real Coatesville," State Rep. Harry Lewis (R-74) said. "This isn't the home filled with all of the wonderful students and athletes who I've loved and respected. It breaks my heart that we still have to fight for equality and against hatred."

Authorities said Rissell told them he became involved in the white supremacy movement when he was doing time in prison for aggravated assault.

The Rissell incident was one of several similar incidents over the past year and a half, including the vandalism of storefronts in Philadelphia and later the desecration of tombstones at a Jewish cemetery.

Patch file photo