Multiple men were arrested and are facing vandalism charges after being accused of spray-painting graffiti that is tied to a white nationalist hate group, the patriot Front, at an MBTA station in Salem on Saturday.
“Over the last several months, the Salem Police Department has responded to and investigated several incidents of graffiti and vandalism in the downtown and surrounding areas,” Salem police department wrote in a statement. “These incidents involved the placing of ‘tags’ from a group calling itself ‘Patriot Front’ onto public and private property. Patriot Front is identified by various watchdog agencies including the Anti-Defamation League as a white supremacist, racist, and anti-Semitic group.”
On Saturday around 9:48 p.m., Salem Police Officer Edgar Green responded to an MBTA train station on Bridge Street in Salem. When the officer pulled into the parking lot, he saw two individuals, masked and wearing hoods “tagging” public property. According to the statement, when the individuals saw Officer Green stop his patrol car, they attempted to conceal the items in a backpack and walk away.
After the officer detained the individuals, he found fresh paint on the wall and fresh paint on the hands and clothes of the individuals. The officer discovered two cans of spray paint and two stencils.
“The stencils read ‘STRONG FAMILES MAKE STRONG NATIONS PATRIOT FRONT.US’ and ‘DEFEND AMERICAN LABOR PATRIOT,’” according to the police statement.
Alex Beilman, age 27 of Meriden, Connecticut, and Kyle Morelli, age 27 of Salem, were arrested on charges of vandalism and tagging, according to the statement. The investigation is ongoing and there may be additional charges.
Earlier this month, stickers tied to the Patriot Front were found on cars at Merrimack Valley Black & Brown Voices Inc.’s Black & Brown-owned outdoor market in Haverhill.
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