Operation Kristallnacht (The Base)
Operation Kristallnacht was a September 2019 coordinated campaign organized through The Base's online channels by Richard Tobin that directed members to vandalize synagogues across the United States, resulting in federal civil rights convictions in New Jersey and Wisconsin.
Operation Kristallnacht was a coordinated vandalism campaign organized through The Base's online channels during September 13-21, 2019, named after the Nazi pogrom of November 9-10, 1938. Richard Tobin, a New Jersey resident, used The Base's encrypted group chats to recruit and direct members to spray-paint antisemitic graffiti, swastikas, and The Base's symbol on synagogues in multiple U.S. states.1
Organization and Execution
From September 13 through 21, 2019, Tobin and other Base members communicated through online channels about targeting synagogues and threatening Black and Jewish communities. Participants agreed through these channels to vandalize Jewish houses of worship as a coordinated act of intimidation. The campaign was explicitly framed within The Base's accelerationist ideology as a direct invocation of Nazi Germany.
Yousef O. Barasneh, 22, of Oak Creek, Wisconsin, traveled to Beth Israel Sinai Congregation in Racine, Wisconsin, on September 21, 2019, and spray-painted antisemitic language, a swastika, and The Base's symbol on the building's exterior. A separate vandalism occurred at a Michigan synagogue, Temple Jacob in Hancock, Michigan, for which another perpetrator was convicted of a federal hate crime.
Federal Prosecutions
Barasneh was arrested January 17, 2020, and charged in the Eastern District of Wisconsin with conspiring to violate citizens' rights to use property free from threats and intimidation under 18 U.S.C. § 241, case 2:20-cr-00026. He pleaded guilty August 12, 2020, and received a sentence of two months probation.2
Tobin was charged federally in New Jersey with conspiracy against rights for organizing the campaign. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced on November 16, 2021, to one year and one day in federal prison plus three years of supervised release. Prosecutors described him as the campaign's director, who had coordinated the nationwide effort through Base channels.3
Nazi Historical Reference
Tobin's use of the name "Operation Kristallnacht" in Base communications was documented in prosecution materials and described by The Forward and other outlets. The name choice reflected The Base's explicit embrace of Nazi historical symbolism and its effort to frame vandalism as the first stage in an accelerationist escalation campaign modeled on historical Nazi violence.
Sources
- The Forward, "'The Base' called synagogue vandalism 'Kristallnacht,'" 2020. https://forward.com/news/453870/synagogue-vandal-in-racine-wis-called-it-operation-kristallnacht/ ↩
- U.S. Department of Justice, Eastern District of Wisconsin, "Oak Creek Man Who Vandalized Racine Synagogue Pleads Guilty," August 2020. United States v. Barasneh, 2:20-cr-00026 (E.D. Wis.). https://www.justice.gov/usao-edwi/pr/oak-creek-man-who-vandalized-racine-synagogue-pleads-guilty ↩
- Daily Voice, "NJ Neo-Nazi Gets Year, Day For Masterminding Nationwide 'Kristallnacht' Attack On Blacks, Jews," November 2021; Upper Michigan's Source, "New Jersey man sentenced to prison for directing vandalism of Temple Jacob in Hancock," November 18, 2021. https://www.uppermichiganssource.com/2021/11/18/new-jersey-man-sentenced-prison-directing-vandalism-temple-jacob-hancock/ ↩
Local network
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