Overview
- Sarasota police say a 30-year-old man was arrested after surveillance video showed someone covering their face and throwing a brick through the front window of Chabad of Downtown SRQ on Cocoanut Avenue.
- Authorities say the suspect told officers he targeted the building because it is a Jewish place of worship.
- Police reported that witnesses and nearby residents helped identify the suspect and that the arrest followed investigators’ review of the surveillance footage.
- Investigators told reporters the suspect said he had been exposed to antisemitic content on social media shortly before the attack, a detail the police cited while the probe continues.
- The suspect is in custody and expected to face charges including criminal damage to a religious building, an offense treated as a hate crime under local law, and the department says the investigation remains ongoing.