Man charged with 53 hate crimes after being caught red-handed in Sydney’s Inner West
A 21-year-old man has been arrested and charged with 53 hate-related offences after police allegedly caught him in the act of spray-painting offensive graffiti in Petersham early Sunday morning.
Felix John Jerzy Kiera was stopped by officers from the Inner West Police Area Command at around 12:20 a.m. while he was allegedly defacing community decals with hate symbols along Crystal Street. He was immediately taken to Newtown Police Station.
Man allegedly responsible for hate-filled graffiti attacks (supplied)
According to NSW Police, a further investigation linked Kiera to a spree of hate-motivated vandalism dating back to April 27. Authorities allege he targeted buildings and political posters across Erskineville, Newtown, and Petersham, using antisemitic imagery, Nazi symbols, and homophobic slurs.
Kiera now faces 53 charges, including 21 counts of knowingly displaying Nazi symbols in public without a reasonable excuse, 23 counts of destroying or damaging property, eight counts of graffitiing without consent, and one count of unlawfully entering enclosed land. He has been refused bail and is due to appear at Parramatta Local Court today.
The NSW government passed legislation in 2022 banning the public display of Nazi symbols, but the law’s enforcement has drawn criticism for inconsistency. While the maximum penalty includes a 12-month prison term, many offenders have received fines or had convictions overturned.
