A Salvation Army Church in Altoona, Pa. (via Google Maps). Benjamin Burton Brower Jr. (via Altoona (Pa.) Police).
A man with what police describe as a “large red swastika tattoo” has been arrested for allegedly trying to hurt people outside a charity church.
Benjamin Burton Brower Jr., 30, was arrested Wednesday on felony charges following an incident at the Salvation Army Church, police in Altoona, Pennsylvania, announced.
According to law enforcement, Brower was up to nothing good — and his body art was a dead giveaway.
“APD officers were dispatched to the Salvation Army Church, 1813 6th Ave, after Brower was seen on surveillance cameras taping razor blades to the hand railing at the church entrance,” the Altoona Police Department said on Facebook. “Brower was shirtless during the incident and identified by a large red swastika tattoo on his chest.”
The swastika, once a benign symbol across multiple cultures, is now used by Nazis and others as a symbol of hate, antisemitism, and white supremacy.
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Brower is charged with aggravated assault, institutional vandalism, recklessly endangering another person, and “other associated offenses,” police said. He is currently being held in the Blair County Prison in lieu of $10,000 cash bail.
Representatives for the Salvation Army location where the incident occurred did not immediately reply to Law&Crime’s request for comment.
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