Man Who Vandalized Rutgers Islamic Center Gets 6 Months In Prison

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — The New Jersey man who admitted breaking into and vandalizing the Rutgers Muslim student center last April — smashing TVs and religious verses from the Quran — was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. federal court.

Hon. Robert Kirsch sentenced Jacob Beacher, 25, to six months in prison, followed by a year of supervised release. He must also pay $19,000 in restitution to the Center for Islamic Life at Rutgers University (CILRU), which he broke into on April 10, 2024.

Last October, Beacher pleaded guilty to one count of causing damage to religious property, which is a federal hate crime punishable by a maximum three years in prison.

Beacher admitted he intentionally broke into the center on the Muslim holy day of Eid-al-Fitr, and that he destroyed the religious items because they are Islamic, U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger previously said.

CILRU director Atiya Aftab was in federal court Tuesday for his sentencing. On Wednesday, she expressed frustration at the six-month prison term.

"It's surprising, since the prosecution initially recommended 12 to 18 months in prison," said Aftab. "What is disturbing to us is he did not address his hatred for Muslims/Palestinians, which was his motivation for this hate crime. And his hatred seems to have been longstanding."

Beacher was raised in a Jewish household in Metuchen, Judge Kirsch said Tuesday at the sentencing, according to Aftab. He graduated from Metuchen High School; Aftab said she spoke to Rutgers students who went there with him.

"Students told me he would hassle teenage girls who wore head scarves, and he would come to Metuchen High School draped in the Israeli flag," she said. "Although in a surprising twist, Beacher said in court Tuesday that is now a born-again Christian."

Beacher never attended Rutgers. A Rutgers spokeswoman said last year they searched student records and have no evidence of him ever attending the school.

Beacher's parents have since moved out of state. They were not in court Tuesday, but they told the court they would be paying the $19,000 restitution to her center, said Aftab.

At the time he did this, Beacher was living in North Plainfield, where he was arrested by FBI agents on April 22, 12 days after the crime. The FBI immediately started investigating the vandalism as a religious hate crime.

At the sentencing, Judge Kirsch seemed "to focus on Beacher's mental health and drug/alcohol abuse," said Aftab.

"Which is fine," she said. "But in my opinion, most people who commit crimes have some sort of mental illness. The thing is when it's a Muslim guy (who does something like this), they don't talk about mental illness. They immediately talk about terrorism."

"We are a religion of mercy and we don't want this kid's life to be destroyed. He is 25," she continued. "But what he did was very serious. And God forbid there had been someone in the building when he did this."

"Islamophobic-fueled act of hate," federal prosecutors said

The Center for Islamic Life is located on College Avenue on the Rutgers New Brunswick campus.

Beacher got inside at 2:41 a.m. by breaking glass around the center's back door, and then reaching inside to unlock the deadbolt lock. Once inside, Beacher proceeded to smash computers, a printer and multiple flat-screen TVs. He emptied desks and smashed glass in the kitchen. He specifically focused on destroying Islamic religious items, including smashing clay Turbah religious prayer stones, and he broke printed verses from the Quran in half, according to this federal indictment again him.

Beacher also stole a Palestinian flag and a charity box of cash that was going to be given to Palestinians in Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war.

"We deliberately did not put the Palestinian flag outdoors. We did not want to provoke anyone on campus," Aftab previously told Patch.

Beacher did this at the height of unrest and protests on college campuses across the nation over the Israel-Hamas war. Federal prosecutors say what Beacher did was "an Islamophobic-fueled act of hate."

Beacher had "the express purpose of destroying religious artifacts associated with the Islamic faith," former U.S. Attorney Phil Sellinger in this video last October announcing his guilty plea.

The damage was discovered by cleaning ladies the next morning.

He was inside for less than half an hour. But because the damage was extensive, the Muslim Center canceled all Eid-al-Fitr celebrations scheduled for that day, and the CILRU remained closed to students for several days afterwards.

Sellinger said in this video below that his office "will not tolerate hate crimes."

"The free exercise of religion is a fundamental right of all Americans,” he said last October. "The rise of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim bigotry in New Jersey is alarming. The United States Attorneys Office for the district of New Jersey will not tolerate hate crimes, which intimidate people and put them in fear of worshiping as they see fit ... Anyone who attempts to intimidate others based on their race, how they worship, where they're from or who they love will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

Beacher initially lied to FBI agents who questioned him. In exchange for his guilty plea, federal prosecutors agreed not to pursue additional charges for lying to law enforcement.

Man Admits To Hate Crime For Vandalizing Rutgers Islamic Center (Oct. 2024)

Here are excerpts from Aftab's victim impact statement, which she read in federal court Tuesday:

Aftab said she was warned by Rutgers deans and law enforcement the day of the crime that "the scene I was about to witness would be deeply disturbing. The damage was overwhelming: Every television monitor was smashed, telephones destroyed, printers broken, appliances damaged, carpets filled with glass shards and wooden floors abraded. A Palestinian flag was missing. While much of the destruction could be repaired or replaced, the most devastating loss was the destruction of every piece of artwork in the Chaplaincy — many of which featured sacred verses from the Quran ... One metal artwork inscribed with the word "Mashallah" ("God willed it") was shockingly broken in half ... Our sense of safety was shattered."

"His disdain for Muslims and loyalty to Israel were long-standing. In high school, he reportedly harassed students wearing Muslim religious attire while enrobed in an Israeli flag. His Islamophobic behavior appears to have persisted into adulthood, culminating in this violent attack."

"What kind of hatred drove this violence? Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hate have become pervasive in our society, exacerbated by global events like Israel's war on Gaza."

"We commend the response of law enforcement and the Rutgers community in the aftermath of this incident. However, we are deeply disappointed by the muted response from the media and some elected officials. If the roles had been reversed — if a Muslim individual had vandalized a Jewish campus center — the response would likely have been swift and national in scale. Instead, this act of Islamophobic violence received little attention, while Congressional inquiries into anti-Semitism on campuses ignored this serious act of hate."

Get great local news. Sign up to get Patch emails: https://patch.com/subscribe Contact this Patch reporter: Carly.baldwin@patch