Man Who Vandalized Rutgers Islamic Center Pleads Guilty

NEW BRUNSWICK – A 24-year-old North Plainfield man has pleaded guilty to a federal hate crime after breaking into the Center for Islamic Life at Rutgers in April.

Jacob Beacher trashed the center, destroying several religious artifacts, according to a press release issued Thursday by the U.S. Department of Justice.

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Beacher pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Robert Kirsch in Trenton on Wednesday.

Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 11, 2025.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court, on April 10, during the Eid-al-Fitr holiday, Beacher broke into the center at about 2:41 a.m. He proceeded to damage several religious artifacts, such as Turbah prayer stones, which are clay stones on which Muslims prostrate during prayer, and numerous other items that contained holy language from the Quran, Islam’s sacred scripture.

Beacher also stole a Palestinian flag and a charity box belonging to the center, according to court documents.

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In all, he caused about $5,000 in damage, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

The charge of damage to religious property carries a maximum potential penalty of three years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, or twice the gain or loss from the offense, whichever is greatest.

Beacher, who is not affiliated with Rutgers, was arrested in an investigation led by the FBI.

The FBI was assisted in the investigation by the New Jersey State Attorney General’s Office, the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office and the Rutgers University Police Department (RUPD).

According to the criminal complaint signed by special agent Jonathan Norbut, surveillance video showed that Beacher broke a glass pane on the back door, pushed through a piece of Pexiglass, unlatched a deadbolt lock and entered the center.

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