A 25-year-old man from Beverly, Massachusetts, has been arrested, as he faces charges in a series of anti-LGBTQ+ vandalism incidents in Salem, police announced Wednesday.
Mohammed Saeed Rajab is facing several vandalism charges, and is also being charged with hate crimes, according to the Salem Police Department.
Rajab was identified as a suspect after an investigation by Salem and Beverly police detectives, in response to a number of vandalism incidents last week in the Witch City.
Police said that the doors of the Tabernacle Congregational Church and the Pride flag at the Northeast Animal Shelter were defaced with anti-LGBTQ+ graffiti. Officers also said that a Pride flag at Lappin Park was torn down, and that several Pride-themed crosswalks were defaced with paint.
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"I am so proud of the hard work that my detectives did to resolve this case," Salem Police Chief Lucas Miller said in a news release. "We have made this investigation our highest priority. I realize that this arrest does not erase the harm caused by Mr. Rajab, but I hope that it shows the commitment that the Salem Police Department has to our friends, our neighbors, and our colleagues in the LGBTQ community."
It wasn't immediately clear if Rajab had an attorney who could speak to the charges he faces.
