{"id":897829,"date":"2026-06-28T03:32:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T03:32:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/897829\/"},"modified":"2026-06-28T03:32:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T03:32:15","slug":"hate-crime-glendale-man-who-threatened-phoenix-synagogue-indicted-in-new-federal-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/897829\/","title":{"rendered":"Hate crime: Glendale man who threatened Phoenix synagogue indicted in new federal case"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>The Brief<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul class=\"mb-4\">\n<li class=\"ml-4 list-disc\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">A 33-year-old Glendale man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for a hate crime after allegedly defacing a Phoenix synagogue.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ml-4 list-disc\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Kevin Pyles is accused of intentionally defacing religious property following his previous guilty plea to state-level terrorism threat charges.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"ml-4 list-disc\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Phoenix Police and the FBI teamed up on the investigation to send a clear message: Leave houses of worship alone.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img alt=\"&lt;div&gt;Kevin Pyles&lt;\/div&gt;\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/59f158b647f0f479484f11b657cf2aeb.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>PHOENIX<\/strong> &#8211; A Glendale man previously convicted of targeting the Jewish community has been indicted by a federal grand jury for a hate crime after allegedly defacing a Phoenix synagogue last year, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao-az\/pr\/arizona-man-charged-hate-crime-defacement-synagogue\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:the FBI announced;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;the FBI announced&quot;}\" class=\"link \"><strong>the FBI announced<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>What we know<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Kevin Charles Pyles, 33, was indicted Tuesday on a federal charge of intentionally defacing religious property. The charge marks a significant escalation in the legal fallout for Pyles, who was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox10phoenix.com\/news\/man-accused-making-threats-toward-synagogue\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:originally arrested by local authorities in August 2025;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;originally arrested by local authorities in August 2025&quot;}\" class=\"link \"><strong>originally arrested by local authorities in August 2025<\/strong><\/a> following a string of online anti-Semitic threats.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">According to the indictment returned in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.azd.uscourts.gov\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:U.S. District Court in Phoenix;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;U.S. District Court in Phoenix&quot;}\" class=\"link \"><strong>U.S. District Court in Phoenix<\/strong><\/a>, Pyles defaced the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shaareishalomaz.org\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:Sha\u2019arei Shalom Congregation;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;Sha\u2019arei Shalom Congregation&quot;}\" class=\"link \"><strong>Sha\u2019arei Shalom Congregation<\/strong><\/a> on July 11, 2025, by posting an anti-Semitic flyer on the synagogue\u2019s front door. If convicted, Pyles faces a maximum sentence of one year in prison, a $100,000 fine, or both.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>Dig deeper<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The federal prosecution follows Pyles&#8217; recent guilty plea in Maricopa County Superior Court to charges of trying to make a terrorism threat. Those state-level charges arose from a separate investigation by the Phoenix Police Department, which tracked a series of anonymous, terroristic social media posts back to Pyles.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Court documents from his initial arrest revealed that Pyles admitted to investigators that he made the online threats, blaming the Jewish community for his unemployment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;I am Hitler. Start (fire emoji) down synagogues and BlackRock financial buildings,&#8221; he <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/06\/26\/us-news\/arizona-man-federally-charged-with-hate-crime-for-defacing-phoenix-synagogue\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:reportedly wrote;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;reportedly wrote&quot;}\" class=\"link \"><strong>reportedly wrote<\/strong><\/a> in a post cited in court documents. &#8220;Just look them up and take them out if you\u2019re near one. I\u2019d do it. It\u2019s worth the jail time for me.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Prosecutors during his initial court appearances noted that Pyles had also trespassed on the Sha\u2019arei Shalom Congregation <a href=\"https:\/\/maps.app.goo.gl\/Ev7zYN6UFZM2RXRbA\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"elm:link;elmt:article_link;slk:property in north Phoenix;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" data-yga=\"{&quot;yLinkElement&quot;:&quot;context_link&quot;,&quot;yModuleName&quot;:&quot;content-canvas&quot;,&quot;yLinkText&quot;:&quot;property in north Phoenix&quot;}\" class=\"link \"><strong>property in north Phoenix<\/strong><\/a>, where he filmed himself throwing a Passover glass and shouting explicit anti-Semitic slurs. He was initially held on a $250,000 bond and ordered to stay off the internet.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>What they&#8217;re saying<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Law enforcement leaders used the indictment to signal a zero-tolerance approach to hate crimes in Arizona.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;This indictment is a message to the community \u2013 we will not tolerate the defacement or destruction of any house of worship,&#8221; U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">FBI Special Agent in Charge Rebecca Day called these investigations a top priority because &#8220;every Arizonan has the right to feel safe.&#8221; Phoenix Police Chief Matt Giordano agreed, saying that acts targeting specific communities &#8220;undermine the values we stand for.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><strong>The Source<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Information in this story was gathered from the FBI\u2019s Phoenix Division and the Phoenix Police Department,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Brief A 33-year-old Glendale man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for a hate crime&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":897830,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5131],"tags":[5229,5643,1587,363690,39476,363689,363688,57353,1589,17042,31402,363691,40190,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-897829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-phoenix","tag-america","tag-arizona","tag-az","tag-federal-grand-jury","tag-hate-crime","tag-kevin-charles-pyles","tag-kevin-pyles","tag-maricopa-county-superior-court","tag-phoenix","tag-phoenix-police","tag-synagogue","tag-terrorism-threat","tag-the-fbi","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116825630754630434","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=897829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/897829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/897830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=897829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=897829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=897829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}