Far-right influencer Tim "Baked Alaska" Gionet has been charged with damaging a Hanukkah display by the Arizona Capitol building in Phoenix in December 2020, the Associated Press reported.
Gionet is a well-known member of the US alt-right, and has been labeled a neo-Nazi, white supremacist and antisemitic conspiracy theorist.
However, he has a history as a BuzzFeed journalist and has briefly branded himself in the past as leftist.
Gionet is accused of having been recorded on video tearing off a sign honoring Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, at the Wesley Bolin Plaza in Phoenix, AP reported.
The sign itself did not hold much material value, but the real danger in Gionet's actions was the message it sent to the Jewish community, according to Rabbi Levi Levertov.
“It’s an attack on an entire community,” Levertov said, according to AP. “That’s the way I look at it.”
Gionet is now facing misdemeanor charges, the exact specifics of which are unclear. However, it is far from the only notable incident he was involved in that winter.
Gionet was among the many people who stormed the US Capitol on January 6, which was allegedly sparked by supporters of president Donald Trump seeking to prevent Congress from certifying the 2020 election results in favor of Joe Biden.
Gionet in particular was noted to have livestreamed from inside the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Baked Alaska also was present at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, an incident that also sparked violence.
However, Gionet is not currently in custody at this time.