JTA — A series of arson attacks on Jewish institutions in Massachusetts in 2019 were likely carried out by a man who once wrote, “We must kill all Jews.”
But while the man was being investigated for domestic terrorism at the time and police gathered evidence linking him to the arson very quickly, he was not identified as a suspect until months later. late. At that time, he was in a coma from which he never recovered.
Federal prosecutors revealed the details Wednesday with the announcement of the indictment of the alleged arsonist’s brother, who is accused of obstructing the investigation by taking evidence of his brother’s anti-Semitic acts to Sweden, where He lived.
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Alexander Giannakakis was arrested on Wednesday near Stockholm by Swedish law enforcement and faces extradition to the United States. He had worked as a security guard for the US Embassy in Sweden.
The FBI believes Giannakakis’ brother was the arsonist behind three fires at two Chabad Jewish centers and a fourth arson attack targeting a Jew-affiliated business in May 2019. The name of the suspected arsonist is no is not disclosed as he is deceased.
The rabbi of one of the Chabad centers said he was grateful to law enforcement and thanked God for coming out of the arson unscathed.
“We viewed the incident as an impetus to grow because we believe the best way to fight anti-Semitism is to do even more, to spread more light and love around the world,” the official said. Rabbi Mendy Krinsky of the Jewish Chabad Center in Needham, Massachusetts, to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
“It’s the best way. A little light dispels a lot of darkness. »
Rabbi Mendy Krinsky and his wife, Chanie, of the Jewish Chabad Center in Needham, MA, pose next to where someone tried to set fire to their Chabad home in May 2019. (Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe/Getty Images via JTA)
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Prosecutors upheld the anti-Semitic nature of the arson attacks, which was characterized as domestic terrorism. According to the indictment, Giannakakis, 35, lied to investigators and withheld evidence that could link his brother to the crime, including a T-shirt emblazoned with a swastika, a notebook with a swastika drawn on inside and a bottle of cyanide.
The alleged arsonist had written anti-Semitic diatribes, scribbled Nazi slogans and the declarations: “A world without Jews is a world without scum. Something we should hope for” and “We have to kill, we have to kill all the Jews. It is simply essential. »
For Robert Trestan, the New England regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, the revelations about the likely motivation for the attacks validate Jewish fears about rising anti-Semitism in the United States.
“The indictment is yet another reminder that anti-Semitism is more than a concept,” Trestan told JTA. “It motivates people to commit acts of violence that endanger the lives of Jews across the country. If they take the threat posed by anti-Semitism very seriously, we should do the same, prioritizing security, raising awareness of the threat posed by anti-Semitism and relentlessly combating all forms of anti-Semitism. »
At the time of the arson attacks, the late brother of Alexander Giannakakis was under investigation by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force as part of an investigation into a group suspected of “planning criminal activity at the support of their racially motivated violent extremist ideology,” according to the indictment.
Security camera footage shows a police officer wants to question an individual about a fire at the home of a rabbi, which serves as a Chabad community center, in Arlington, MA on May 11, 2019. (Screen capture )
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But the FBI and local police didn’t link the man to the arson attacks until much later, apparently because state law enforcement hadn’t finished analyzing fingerprints found at the scene. of one of the arson attacks during the nine-month investigation.
The first fire was at the Chabad Jewish Center in Arlington, Massachusetts on May 11, 2019. Five days later, on May 16, another fire broke out there, followed by a third fire at the Chabad Jewish Center. at Needham.
Local police and the FBI had launched an investigation, and the fires had received wide media coverage. For months, the investigation provided very few clues, without witnesses, fingerprints or CCTV images.
But unbeknownst to the investigators, the police already had the key to the case.
On May 26, another arson attack occurred, this time at a business. An eyewitness saw a suspect who then fled the scene while throwing a can of acetone, a highly flammable liquid. The police seized the can of acetone and submitted it for fingerprint analysis. No one in law enforcement has linked this fourth arson attack to the previous three, according to the indictment.
It took until February 2020, about nine months later, for the state police to analyze the fingerprints and identify them. Once this person was identified and the FBI realized he was the subject of a separate domestic terrorism investigation targeting a group suspected of planning terrorist attacks, he became the prime suspect in all three arson attacks. of Chabad.
But at that time, the suspect was in a coma. He had been hospitalized in November 2019 for reasons that the indictment does not specify. He passed away in September 2020.
Investigators questioned Giannakakis and later learned that he lied to them and hid items belonging to his brother that showed he harbored a hatred of Jews, the indictment alleges. The most serious charge Giannakakis faces carries a sentence of up to 20 years.
“Investigators have followed every lead in this case, literally following the case around the world,” Arlington Police Chief Julie Flaherty said in a statement. “These crimes have deeply shaken our community, and I sincerely hope that the international teamwork of US and Swedish authorities in solving this series of heinous crimes will bring some comfort to the victims. »
Penny Schwartz contributed to this article.
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