BOSTON, August 15, 2017— A Boston man and a 17-year-old from Malden were each arraigned today in connection with separate incidents of vandalism at the New England Holocaust Memorial, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

A 17-year-old male from Malden was arraigned today in Boston Juvenile Court on charges of disorderly conduct malicious destruction of property over $250, and causing injury over $5,000 to a church, synagogue or memorial. After the juvenile walked in to court today, Judge Terry Craven released him on his own recognizance with orders to stay away from the memorial and comply with mental health treatment.

SAID BOUZIT (D.O.B. 3/29/80), who provided the address of a Boston mental health facility as his residence, was arraigned this afternoon in Boston Municipal Court on charges of vandalizing a grave planting and disorderly conduct. Judge Thomas Horgan set bail in the amount of $5,000 and revoked Bouzit’s open bail in a pending case charging assault and battery on a corrections officer.  

Assistant District Attorney Michelle Slade of the DA’s Juvenile Unit told the court that the 17-year-old was in the area of the New England Holocaust Memorial on Union Street yesterday evening when he threw a rock that shattered one of the memorial’s glass panels. Each of the panels is engraved with thousands of numbers representing the six million Jews murdered by the Nazi regime. 

Witnesses, including an off-duty agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration and an off-duty Boston firefighter, chased after the juvenile as he fled the location and apprehended him until the arrival of Boston Police.

Officers found that the teen was in possession of a folding knife with a four-inch blade and a small bag of marijuana. He was placed under arrest for the destruction of the memorial and additionally issued citations for violating city ordinances for carrying a prohibited knife in possession of less than an ounce of marijuana.

In a separate incident at approximately 10:30 a.m. today, a witness photographing damage to the memorial captured images of a man, later identified as Bouzit, causing damage to flowers placed at the site. Bouzit fled the scene but was stopped by a Boston Police officer on patrol in the area of Washington Street.

The incident is under review by Conley’s point prosecutor on hate crimes and detectives assigned to the Boston Police Civil Rights Unit.

“Acts like these are disgraceful at any time, but they’re even more reprehensible in the aftermath of the hate-fueled violence in Charlottesville,” Conley said. “Everyone – no matter their race, religion, gender, or how they define their families – has the right to feel safe, welcome and respected in Boston and Suffolk County.”

The juvenile was represented by Brian Wiseman. He returns to Boston Juvenile Court on Oct. 10.  Bouzit is represented by Matthew Kidd and returns to court Sept. 7.

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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.