PITTSBURGH — A woman has pleaded guilty to vandalising a Squirrel Hill synagogue.
The words “Jews 4 Palestine” and an inverted triangle were spray-painted onto the exterior of Chabad of Squirrel Hill last July. An entry sign at the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh was vandalized on the same day.
Two people were later federally charged with the vandalism. On Thursday, Talya Lubit, of Pittsburgh, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and defacing and damaging a religious building.
“From my perspective, any day that we go without an incident is a good day,” said Shawn Brokos, the director of community security for the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh.
She was at the plea hearing on Thursday.
“[I am] very pleased to see today’s change of plea, that she is owning her conduct, but we also know that with this investigation, there’s a lot more to come, and it also unearthed what started out as a graffiti case,” she said.
During the multi-federal agency investigation, agents uncovered that Lubit had been communicating with a man named Muhammad Hamad. Their conversations consisted of anti-Semitic rhetoric. Plus, according to investigators, Hamad was making homemade bombs.
In fact, he detonated three of them, and detectives included the photos in their complaint.
“The investigation is remarkable. If you look at the indictment, it takes you step by step of how they prove this case,” Brokos said. “So, just incredible meticulous work and we‘re grateful for our law enforcement partners.”
Through the investigators, detectives learned a third person was involved in the vandalism. That person is also now facing charges.
Lubit, according to the Department of Justice, has agreed to pay full restitution for the damage done to the Chabad property and the Jewish Federation of Pittsburgh sign. She’ll be sentenced in September.
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