‘Heil Trump’ graffiti hoax finally solved

More than 100 incidents — hoax bomb threats against Jewish Community Centers around the U.S. — appear to have come from a single mentally disturbed Israeli teenager.

Around eight other bomb threats against Jewish Community Centers have been attributed to a disgraced left-wing journalist (Juan Thompson, previously fired for fabrication) who was allegedly using the threats as a way of trying to frame an ex-girlfriend. Three of his threats included a reference to his intent to cause “a Jewish Newtown.” Thompson was even bold enough to comment on social media about how horrible the threats were, even as he was making them.

Another incident — the burning of a black church in Mississippi, along with “Vote Trump” graffiti — turned out to be the alleged work of a parishioner.

Another very high-profile incident, involving the vandalism of a church in Indiana, was finally solved this week. This one always seemed kind of odd — swastikas, “Heil Trump,” and “Fag Church” in black spray paint on the side of the church’s gray siding tiles. (Do you think most Trump supporters view or think of him as Hitler?)

The church organist, a gay man who was reportedly alarmed by Trump’s election, decided that needlessly scaring the hell out of his fellow parishioners would be a great way of drawing attention to the issue. Well, he succeeded, convincing a lot of people that life in America is a lot scarier than it actually is. At least he admitted to the crime this week when confronted by the police with evidence that his cell phone was in the area on the night when it happened. He says he regrets what he did, admitting it was a “false flag.”

There are enough real hate crimes in America every year. The reason they are so evil is that they attempt to terrorize people just because of their race or religion. But hoax hate crimes have the exact same terrorizing effect, and really their perpetrators should be treated just like the real thing.