Arsonist behind house fire and hate attack in Manchester, New Jersey, sentenced

🔥 Man from New Jersey sprayed 14 houses with swastikas and other Nazi motifs

🔥 Said he was saving the neighborhood

🔥 Family rebuilds their new home after a fire

MANCHESTER – An Ocean County man has been sentenced to prison for a series of anti-Semitic crimes that left a young Hispanic family’s new home destroyed.

Ron Carr, 35, admitted earlier this year that he was responsible for the destruction of 14 homes in his hometown of Manchester on June 6, 2023, according to the Ocean County District Attorney’s Office. The series of graffiti targeted a Jewish neighborhood.

Early the next morning, Carr also set fire to a house in the Pine Lark Park neighborhood. Three nearby houses and trees were also damaged, but no one was injured.

According to an affidavit, Carr told police he believed the house would be converted into a school after the fire. He believed he would “save the neighborhood from the Jewish residents,” whom he described as a “plague.”

Anti-Semitic arsonist thought he was a vigilante

Carr pleaded guilty on June 20, 2024 to arson, intimidation of a person, and two counts of criminal damage.

Carr was sentenced to seven years in prison on Friday for arson. He also received five years for bias intimidation and 18 months for criminal damage, but the sentences will be served concurrently.

Read more: Latino family in New Jersey loses home due to arson in Jewish apartment block

“I hope he gets the help he needs,” Carr’s defense attorney Shane Paugh told NJ.com.

Manchester family rebuilds after hate-fuelled fire

Angel and Brenda Rivas are rebuilding their new home after losing it in the fire on June 7, 2023. The building was under construction and burned to the ground.

The mayor, a town council member, a school board member, business owners and several members of the Orthodox Jewish community came together to help. They formed the Rebuild RIVAS Pine Lake Park Coalition.

A GoFundMe campaign was also launched to raise money for the new home, raising around $11,000.

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