Man Who Drew Union Station Swastikas Is Twice-Deported Criminal

A man arrested last week for vandalizing Washington’s Union Station with swastika symbols is a Mexican citizen with a 15-year criminal history who has been deported twice but still does not meet Biden administration standards for arrest or removal.

Geraldo Pando, 34, was arrested on Jan. 28 and charged with the display of certain emblems and defacing private/public property for drawing the Nazi symbol on the exterior walls of the train station, just blocks from the U.S. Capitol. The incident happened one day after International Holocaust Remembrance Day and is being investigated as a possible hate crime.

Arrest records obtained exclusively by the Washington Examiner reveal that Pando had an extensive, 35-page criminal history in Colorado before he arrived in the District of Columbia recently. Despite his record, Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not attempt to take him into federal custody after his Union Station arrest so that he could face deportation proceedings in court, instead allowing him to remain in the United States.

Pando had also been detained and arrested a week prior to the Union Station incident for vandalizing the U.S. Capitol Police headquarters, according to a senior Senate aide familiar with Pando’s run-ins with federal, state, and local law enforcement. Capitol Police released him because ICE did not ask that he be detained until he could be transferred into federal custody. {snip}

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Pando’s known criminal history began 15 years ago. His first arrest was in Aurora, Colorado, in February 2006 on charges of felony drug possession, driving without a license and proof of insurance, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of marijuana. He pleaded guilty to the marijuana charge, and the felony and other charges were dismissed. He was to serve 18 months’ probation but was rearrested in February 2007, negating the probation.

In April 2016, Pando was arrested by the Aurora Police Department on two felony charges, trespassing with intent to commit a crime and possession of burglary tools, and three misdemeanor theft and mischief charges. He pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor charge, and the four felony and misdemeanor charges were dismissed. He was jailed for 30 days.

Pando was arrested in March 2018 for trespassing and released. Police obtained a warrant for his arrest when he failed to appear in court. He was arrested on a felony charge a month later by the Denver Police Department for possession of a controlled substance. He was convicted and sentenced to 547 days in jail. He was also placed on two years’ probation for the previous trespassing and burglary charges.

After being released from jail, Pando was arrested by the Aurora Police Department in October 2020 for assaulting a first responder, reporting false information, and harassment and obscene language. The charges were dismissed in August 2021.

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