Man Who Defaced LGBTQ Mural Made To Write Pulse Shooting Essay: Report

DELRAY BEACH, FL — A 20-year-old man who pled guilty last month on criminal mischief and reckless driving charges after he left tire marks on an LBGTQ crosswalk mural in Delray Beach received an unusual punishment ahead of his sentencing.

Alexander Jerich was ordered by a Palm Beach County judge last week to research and write a 25-page essay on the 2016 shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, according to a report from the Palm Beach Post.

Circuit Judge Scott Suskauer told Jerich to look into the backgrounds of the 49 victims as well as offer his views on why tragedies such as the Pulse massacre happen, according to the report.

Jerich had a court hearing Thursday after he pled guilty in March. His sentencing is scheduled for June 7, just five days shy of the shooting's sixth anniversary, according to Palm Beach County court records.

Authorities say Jerich performed a burn out with his family's Chevy pickup truck on the colloquially known Pride Intersection at NE 1st Street and NE 2nd Avenue on June 14, 2021, two days after the mural had been completed. The truck left tire marks 15 feet long across the mural, and in the process, swung wildly into the opposite lane, according to court documents.

Jerich was participating in a "Donald Trump Birthday Rally" with around 30 vehicles that made their way through the city, according to court documents.

Criminal mischief carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Rand Hoch, president of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council, called for Suskauer to hand down a one-year sentence in a victim statement submitted to the court.

Suskauer didn't appear to agree with a one-year sentence but indicated he might consider a 30-day sentence suggested by prosecutors, according to the Palm Beach Post report.