Chinese National Arrested, Placed in Federal Custody for Allegedly Spraying Swastikas on Kalamazoo Hanukkah Display

On Thursday, 27-year-old Jaifeng Chen was arrested in Arizona after he allegedly spray-painted swastikas on Hanukkah decorations and the wall outside of the Chabad of Kalamazoo in Michigan.

Jaifeng Chen

The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety said that the FBI worked in coordination with other law enforcement agencies in Arizona to locate and ultimately arrest the Chinese national. He was also booked on an unrelated charge on Nov. 27, according to WTVB. Chen is now in federal custody.

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Officers said they “don’t know what his motivation was” in the act, but that he is also accused of spray painting other racist graffiti around Kalamazoo Valley Community College’s Arcadia Commons campus.

“He was difficult to identify for us because he had no real ties to Kalamazoo,” said Kalamazoo Public Safety Chief Dave Boysen. “He’d only been here for about a month. He’s kind of been all over the country.”

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