{"id":571,"date":"2026-05-19T13:36:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T13:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jacksonvillemovingnews.com\/?p=571"},"modified":"2026-05-19T13:36:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T13:36:00","slug":"men-arrested-for-defacing-miami-beach-pride-bench-with-antisemitic-graffiti-cops-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jacksonvillemovingnews.com\/?p=571","title":{"rendered":"Men arrested for defacing Miami Beach pride bench with antisemitic graffiti, cops say"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Two men from Germany were arrested after police said they were caught on surveillance video defacing a bench with antisemitic\u00a0graffiti in Miami Beach. <\/p>\n

Read more Scattered storms bring rainy Tuesday to South Florida: What to know<\/a><\/p>\n

Authorities said it happened Monday at around 5:34 p.m., when Miami Beach police officers responded to the area of 12 Street and Ocean Drive. <\/p>\n

Police said officers found writing including a swastika and the words “Adolf Was Here” on an LGBTQIA+ bench located within Lummus Park.<\/p>\n

Using surveillance video from city cameras, police were able to track down the four men involved. <\/p>\n

According to arrest reports, the footage shows how 58-year-old Christoph Rehak asked one of his friends for a marker, then he and 63-year-old Gunther Jekschtat sat on the bench next to each other. <\/p>\n

“Mr. Rehak began to write on the bench while Mr. Jekschtat blocked him with his body so he could not be seen,” an arrest report states. <\/p>\n

All of the men then left the area before they were tracked down to the Colony Hotel. Police saw them leaving and “quickly detained them.”<\/p>\n

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The group was taken to the Miami Beach Police Station to be interviewed, where Rehak allegedly confessed and said he wrote on the bench “as a joke.” He also allowed police to view his phone, where photos of the graffiti were found, police said. <\/p>\n

Jekschtat, meanwhile, allegedly confessed to being aware that Rehak had written the antisemitic\u00a0graffiti and purposely blocked him “to defend his friend,” according to an arrest report. <\/p>\n

“He also apologized for lying” and “explained to the officers that he did not known why Mr. Rehak wrote that specific remark he believed he did it as a joke,” the report states. <\/p>\n

In Florida, crimes are subject to increased penalties if there’s evidence of certain prejudice. These are known as hate crimes. <\/p>\n

“Upon being further interviewed, Mr. Rehak did not show intent of the remark as being a hate crime,” an arrest report states. Further details were not immediately available. <\/p>\n

Rehak and Jekschtat were arrested and charged with criminal mischief of more than $200 and less than $1,000. <\/p>\n

Read more Live updates: Today\u2019s South Florida News<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Police said officers found writing including a swastika and the words “Adolf Was Here” on an LGBTQIA+ bench located within Lummus Park.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":570,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-miami-beach"],"yoast_head":"\nMen arrested for defacing Miami Beach pride bench with antisemitic graffiti, cops say - Jacksonville Moving News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jacksonvillemovingnews.com\/?p=571\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Men arrested for defacing Miami Beach pride bench with antisemitic graffiti, cops say - 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