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.
According to a probable cause affidavit reviewed by Law&Crime, Brower approached the Salvation Army Church at around 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 10, wearing “red shorts and an open vest displaying a large red tattooed swastika on his chest.”
Brower is seen placing a “green camouflage backpack” on the front steps of the church and started taking items out of the bag.
“Items included a wrench, tape, ruler like item and a wooden gun stock,” the affidavit says. “He then taped a 3-inch razor blade, blade up, onto the metal hand railing leading up the steps to the front doors of the church.”
The incident apparently happened before the center’s weekly offering of meals: The affidavit noted that the church holds services available to the public on Sundays at 10:30 a.m., Sunday school at 11:30 a.m., and a soup kitchen at 4:30 p.m.
The razor was removed at around 5:15 p.m., after pastor Larry Fulmer discovered surveillance video of Brower’s actions. According to the affidavit, no one was injured.
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.
Fulmer, the church’s lead pastor, confirmed the incident to Law&Crime and said that Bower “has no connection to the church.” He declined further comment.
More from Law&Crime: Neo-Nazi arrested for displaying banner with swastika flags, racist messages on bridge over highway, cops say.
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