RNA - A city man has been charged with a hate crime for creating anti-Islam graffiti, police said.
Vincent Casella, 61, was arrested on Sept. 30 for defacing a light pole at the corner of Gramatan Avenue and West Grand Street in Fleetwood, Mount Vernon police said.
A police officer and another witness saw Casella use a blue marker to write the phrase "F*** ISLAM" on the pole, police said. Police stopped him and arrested him.
Casella told officers that he was unhappy with the way the country was headed, and that too many terrorists were being allowed in, police said.
Casella was charged with third-degree criminal mischief as a hate crime, a felony, and unlawfully making graffiti, a misdemeanor. He was arraigned in Mount Vernon City Court on Oct. 3 and released, pending a future court date, police said.
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